Olympic Natl. PK.,WA - Linda Silvas Art Work

One day out driving around seeing things, we stopped at a wonderful store that was part of a Indian Reservation. There we saw a beautiful coffee table like we had never seen. It had a drum in it under glass so you could see it, yet use it. We knew by now we were going to keep doing this traveling awhile yet. I had lots of places I wanted to see. So we walked out declaring if we ever got back in that area we were going to have one of those. Well, years later when we went to Alaska (you'll be hearing about that trip too, one of these days) we made sure we came back through that area to visit Lake Crescent Lodge again, see Smokey, but most of all to now buy that coffee table. We walked in and asked where they were and were told the man that made those went to Arizona. They didn't have any. Disappointment!!!!! "BUT there is a lady that has a shop close by at Sequim, WA, and she makes drums". How often does one statement or being in the right place at the right time change your life?? That trip to Linda Silvas drum shop was not only the right place but we have a friend now for life. She makes the most beautiful drums, has acted in a movie, raised her grandson and knows how drugs can affect parents so travels all over the world talking to "Grandparents raising their Grandchildren" groups, teaching how to make drums, as well as running her own business making true Indian leather drums. She has written a Native American folk lore book called "Mama Bear Baby Bear" that every parent should have and read to their children. You will find that animals have a tree with forbidden fruit like the (should be) forbidden things our young are getting. It is written so well with Mama actually being (grandma bear) and her art work is beautiful on & in the book as well as on her drums she makes. A truly talented nice person. She even came to see us Kansan's when she spoke to a group in Kansas City. I could go on & on about Linda but the best thing you could do is just go to her web sight. http://www.mamabearbabybear.com/. I would like to finish with telling about the 20" drum we bought. Since we had spent the summer before at Yellowstone with the buffalo, bears, elk; she had a drum with all. The leather of the drum was buffalo hide, a soft leather drape of deer hide across it, & the drum beater (real name?) & under the drum where you hold to beat the drum is beautiful black bear fur. We brought it back to Kansas and had a friend that has made cabinets all his life design & make an oak stand to hold the drum & a glass covering several inches above to set things on. We can still take the glass off and get the drum out and beat it like a drum is supposed to be used. I was told by a fellow employee when we worked at Yellowstone and had some drums hanging behind our jewelry counter (that I would get down and beat once in awhile when I was bored). The beat I was using was the movies Indian beat and that is NOT how they beat their drums. Anyway thanks for letting me rattle on and do take a look at Linda's web sight. Jeanette

Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Maine

Acadia covers two fifths of Mount Desert Island, the third largest island in the continental US. Where scenic pink granite, deep glacial ponds, cobblestone beaches, ocean side cliffs and mountains meet the sea & deep woods. Separated from the mainland by only a few hundred yards of water at high tide but we can drive across a short bridge anytime. Somes Sound, the only fiord on the east coast and Cadillac Mountain (1,530 ft.) the highest point on the east coast north of Brazil. Bald Eagle, Osprey, Peregine Falcons, plus seals, porpoise & seabirds fish the cold waters of Frenchman Bay & beyond. In 1919 Acadia became the 1st National Park east of the Mississippi. When you go there PLEASE do not allow just 1 day to drive the 27 mile park loop road and leave. The fog can move in that day and you can't see 100 ft. in front of you, missing a large part of the park experience, the view to all the little tree covered islands around it. Popular activities are hiking the more than 100 miles of maintained trails, varying from easy oceon side to steep cliff side climbs up iron ladders. Walking, biking (you can rent them there) around Eagle Lake or carriage ride on this 50 miles of scenic gravel carriage roads with beautiful stone bridges built & donated by John Rockefeller, Jr. The parks had to promise to keep as built with no cars drive on them! Kayaking the deep lakes & ponds. This was once the bottom of an ancient oceon 500 million years ago. Glaciers shaped the mountains 18,000 years ago. Trees on the island differ because of a fire burning out of control sweeping across the island in 1947, burning 10,000 acres of Acadia. Sun loving Birch & Aspen replaced the spruce & fir which had dominated the landscape. Today it's a mixture of Spruce, Fir, White Pine, Hemlock, etc. Beautiful fall foliage. Some of the many things to do while enjoying the beauty is visit Hinkley Yacht & Sail boat shop. Ride along on the Mail Boat to Cranberry Island don't be surprised at what you see on that boat like a refrigerator, or whatever the residents need at the time that live there. At Bar Harbor Sail on the Margaret Todd 151' 4 masted schooner in Frenchman Bay. We left the dock as the fog creep into the bay so thick all we could see or hear was fog horns sounding around us as we slowly moved away from the dock. Once we got out into the bay the fog on the water had blown away and we could see all the small dome-shaped cloud caps directly above the tree tops over each of the small Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay. We did get hung up on a couple lobster buoys in the fog & trying to get loose the lines broke so our sailboat owner would have to pay for a couple lost lobster traps at $400 each. Each lobsterman has his colors licensed so they can only pull in their colors out among the many, many, different colored buoys marking the traps below. I hope Captain Hyde (5th generation fisherman) who's worked these waters for 35 years at Somes Sound still takes people (5) along with him to check his traps. It was one of the highlights of my summer. We road with him on his working lobster boat (Trawler) while he checks his 10 lobster traps. We got to help him take lobster, sea cucumbers, star fish, sand crabs out of his trap & throw everything back in the sea except the lobster he measured that was the size allowed. He baits his trap with mesh bags of little herring fish & returns them to the sea. I did see him fill a bucket of sea water and go below at one time. When we got to the Northeast Harbor he stopped & told us to turn around with our chairs facing the side and he brought each the most delicious lobster I've eaten, and I ate alot while we were there. Cooked fresh in sea water, throwing the shells back into the sea, you didn't need lemon butter. We could look up on the coast above us at the summer homes of Martha Stewart, Nelson Rockefeller, Edisel Ford's, etc. 150 year old Bear Island Lighthouse with seals playing around it. For this old Kansan it just don't get much better than that experience. End of page 1

MINNESOTA WILD RICE/BEEF CASSEROLE

1/2 cup Minnesota Wild Rice, 1/2 tsp. salt & 4 cups water. Bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and boil gently 20 minutes. Drain. Add: 1 can cream of Mushroom soup, 1 can cream of Chicken soup, 1 can sliced mushrooms, drained. 2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in one cup boiling water. Add: 1/4 tsp. each of celery salt, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper, paprika & a crumbled finely bay leaf. Saute: 3/4 cup celery, chopped & 1/3 cup onion, chopped in 1 tab. butter till transparent. Brown 2 lbs. ground beef. Drain and add to mixture. Put in casserole and sprinkle with 1/2 cup slivered almonds. Bake, covered 1- 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.


Minnesoa Wild Rice is out there. I found it in a 1 cup jar at Dillions & two different packages at HyVee. Read the container. It could be from Indonesia. We want good old USA Minnesota Wild Rice.

VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, MINNESOTA Page 4

At this point about Minnesota which has so much to see and do, I will try to keep my comments short and you can Google the place I mention if you want to know more or just ask me.

Lake of the Woods/Northwest Angle & Islands - A vacation to this remote Minnesota land up in Canada Territory can be relaxing taking in the sights, a boat ride with a guide to a 200 year old historic Fort St. Charles (a French Voyaguers post) & other islands OR dawn to dusk fishing for Northern Pike, Muskie, Walleye, etc. The artifical lure's are 6" long with 40 lb. line. 130 people live there and they have a 1 room school house (approx. 16 kids) from the Angle & surrounding islands coming by boat or snowmobile. Northwest Angle Resort owner built most of the town.

Grand Rapids - Judy Garland's birthplace home with a Festival June 25-27, 2009 where you may see a real live Munckin. Her museum downtown is filled with her momento's and the Carriage from the Wizard of Oz. Don't miss the Forestry History Center with characters in costume as it was in the early 1900's. They actually logged in the winter, sometimes 40 below zero, because the horses can pull 10 times their weight on ice. 300 camps in the Minnesota forest, seventy men in a camp earning $25 a month. By 1929 they had harvested all the original pine trees and floated them down the Mississippi River to St. Louis most to be used to build wagons heading out to open up the west.

Lost Forty - Chippewa National Forest - Blackduck, Minnesota
The original government survey 1882 described this 144 acres as part of Coddington Lake. This mapping error caused the virgin red & white pine of the area to be left behind by the loggers. These trees up to 350 years old and between 22 and 48 inches in diameter. Old growth is valuable for bald eagles, hawks, red squirrels, weasels, etc. A one mile self-guided trail winds its way through the majestic pines.

Avenue of the Pines Scenic Byway - 40 miles through Leech Lake Indian Reservation & Chippewa National Forest past Lake Winnibigoshish(Paul Bunyan country). Laurentian Divide, a rise in the land that determines which way running water flows. North-into Hudson Bay & South -eventually into the Gulf of Mexico. South to Mille Lacs Lake named by French Fur Traders meaning thousand lakes. Second largest lake in Minnesota. 132,510 acres and 76 miles of shoreline. Home to all of Minnesota's symbols: bird, Loon; flower, Ladyslipper; Rock, Superior Agate; Grain, Wild rice and Fish, Walleye. Mille Lacs provided the granite for the Statue of Liberty restoration.

McGregor - Wild Rice Festival (Wild Rice Hot Dish & Wild Rice Soup) the 1st Sat. of June (was anyway). Gigantic Craft Show & Flea Market. Wild Rice grows in the water in Minnesota and harvested by boat and was the Native American's main dish.

Marcell - Corn Festival with free roasting ears, fresh tomatoes & watermelons.

Calumet - Tour of Hill Annex Mine, the only intact natural iron ore mine in the world that visitors can tour. Pit mine 500ft. deep with 326 ft. of water in it. Started in the late 1800's and closed 1978. 700 million tons removed.

Hibbings - Hull Rust Mine (open pit) still operating.

I could go on & on about all the things in Minnesota to see & do. All wonderful. However, I should mention one "little bitty" negative side Mosquitos. With all those lakes and still water it is a perfect breeding place. You just need alot of repellent. Check up there and they know the best thing to use. Have fun. I'll give you a Wild Rice recipe next time. If I can find Minnesota Wild Rice in Kansas. Jeanette

VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, MINNESOTA Page 3

The end of June the wildflowers are starting to bloom. The Bunchberry looks like the Missouri Dogwood trees in bloom but it is a non-woody dogwood growing as a single plant on the ground. By mid summer they will have bright red clusters of berries. Northern blue flag flowers look like miniature Iris. The spotted "touch me not" and tiny "Marsh marigold." Flowers are in the forest, swamps, marshes & bogs. On Highway 53 turn east when you get to [129] Ash River Trail to Ash River Visitor's center, the 1st of the 3 visitor's centers at the park. You will be able to get lots of information there & enjoy a nature trail. Check for schedules of naturalist-guided activities, such as guided trips on concession-run tour boats, canoe trips, children's programs and campfire talks. Reservations are necessary. Back on Highway 53 to [122] Kabetogama Lake Visitor's Center, which I consider the Main visitor's center because we both worked there. A group of "Lady Slippers" at the front door which is the most beautiful & unusual flower I've ever seen. Do not pick this beautiful bloom. It is the State flower and protected by law. The Lady Slipper & Art's & Crafts Festival is the 1st weekend of July. While Melvin worked that day I went to the festival. I met a man that had a cabin beside Sandy Point Resort past Woodenfrog on the peninsula for years and came from Indiana each year to fish. After retiring he & his wife moved there. He told me they were in their backyard last summer when a neighbor came to tell them he saw a bear go in his house & her three cubs are in front eating their tomatoes. They went to the deck looking in the window saw a 200 lb. black mama bear jump up on the kitchen counter. Using her front paws open the two cupboard doors in front of her. Sitting there looking at everything in the cupboard. She grabbed two jars of peanut butter squeezing till the lids poped off and squeezed the contents into her mouth. She got down & went over to the pantry. she grabbed a bag of marshmallows, holding the corner of the bag in her mouth carried them out to the cubs. When they first discovered the bear in the house he ran over to the neighbors to call the Ranger. The Ranger said it had been reported and he had been calling his house. The man said he guessed the bear didn't feel like answering the phone and he sure wasn't going in to answer it. That area of Minnesota has so many black bears they have a hunting season. His wife buys bear fat from the hunters and makes homemade soap from it. Hum? Do you think this was payback? It's not that unusual for a bear to go into a cabin but they usually tear everything up. This bear had such manners that she left her children outside. Went straight to the food & left. Their home was full of antique dolls & furniture and she never hurt a thing. Please make reservations to ride over to Kettle Falls island on the concession run tour boat leaving Lake Kabetogama Visitor's Center about 10am and have a wonderful lunch there. Get back on Hi. 53 to International Falls. 12 miles east of International Falls is the 3rd visitor center Rainy Lake 218-286-5258. Please don't miss any of them. Each has something different to offer. Here you take a ride in a real Voyageur's canoe & you have to help paddle with your guide dressed as the Voyageur's of the 1800's. That doesn't start till school is out and the {real life} teacher is available so you want to check on that ahead of time also. There's alot to see & do at International Falls. Boise Cascade Lumber Company has tours (they make paper); Koochicking Museum; Bear Park (Smokey the Bear statue & friends); and since we eat our way across America - Spot Firehouse Restaurant with old Firetruck and lots of fun stuff is a great place to go. Watch the weather map in the winter, they claim they are the coldest spot in the nation. They are!! You can drive over the bridge (with proper ID) into Canada. A family owned open pit Amethyst mine is fun to visit. Thunderbay is worth the trip. Gotta go now. Next time I'll tell you about the Lake of the Woods and Northwest Angle. The farther point north of the United States. Even farther than Maine. You have to go out of Minnesota into Canada and back into Minnesota to get to it. Jeanette

VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, MINNESOTA Page 2

Voyageurs National Park page 2 -
Town of ORR Area Information Center & places around it.
When we arrived the first of June we noticed the birch, aspen, etc. (trees with leaves) were completely stripped and all standing there naked like winter or dead. It was the 1st year of the 3 year Armyworm (Tent Catepillars) infestation that comes every 10 years. If you are where they are - your bait bucket, vehicle, etc. will be covered with them in a short time. They are harmless & don't bite you!! When we went to the Wildlife Sanctuary to see the bears we noticed all the trees in the sanctuary area had leaves on them. A bear can eat 7 gallons of Armyworms a day they tell me . The town of Orr is a great central spot on the main highway from Minneapolis to International Falls. Just northeast is Mel George's Resort (1910 logging camp) open 8am - 9pm Thursday - Sunday for good food right on Elephant Lake (a good place to catch Sunfish). Close by also, is Echo Trail a beautiful drive through Superior National Forest (100 miles) to Duluth. As you drive you will go through Ely. If camping out and fishing is your thing try the Boundary Waters there. Don't miss "The International Wolf Center" that has a resident wolfpack that you can sit on benchs & watch them interact through a big glass window; "Root Beer Lady Museum" (she made from scratch for fishermen that came in the summer & you can still get a bottle made from her recipe); and the Jr. College Museum is a must to learn the history of Logging in the area in the 1800's. Plan on a day for this little trip. I must tell you about the most beautiful lake you will see while you are up there in the land of 1,000 lakes and it is right on Echo Trail it's name just happens to be Lake Jeanette with a tree covered little island you can see from the road. I may be a little partial because of the name. When you get to Duluth drive the North Shore of Lake Superior stopping to see: Split Rock Lighthouse & Gooseberry Falls State Park; Grand Marais waterfall on the Cascade River - short hike; North House Folk School (rebuilding wooden sail boats of the 1830's); Grand Portage-Rendevous Headquarters(that is so interesting) with a casino -dinner & lodging there also. You can catch a trip on the Wenonah for an all day trip to Isle Royale with a great naturalist talk & walk while you are there. Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the world. It's the most feared of the Great Lakes. 350 wrecks lie beneath her waves. It's also the purest of the 5 great lakes & many port cities use it for their source of water. Back at Duluth go to Canal Park- Marine Museum and they can help you but please ride the "Vista Star" cruise of the harbor touring a real iron ore ship, . If you get hungry and want to take our word for it "Pickwick" family owned since 1914 beautiful wood paneling, The Brewhouse "Fitzgers Brewery," Louis Cafe (best pancakes with Real Maple Syrup). I'm really not getting any money for all this advertising it looks like I'm doing mentioning these places we enjoyed. I know there are lots of great places everywhere but we couldn't get to them all. I'll get on up north to Voyageurs National Park area next time. Jeanette

VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, MINNESOTA

What makes a national park? Year 2000 our nation's fifty four national parks protect for the American people - and the world - wonderful and evocative scenery and varied natural systems that represent the singular and diverse character of our nation's rich natural heritage. They provide a setting in which we can connect with our cultural roots & history. One of our newest parks, Voyageurs National Park celebrated it's 25th anniversary that year. Voyageurs has 4 big lakes and over 500 pine-covered islands which are a product of the leveling action of the glaciers. We can understand the course of the glaciers in the vistas of deep blue water that contrast so obviously with the green boreal forest and dark surfaces of rocks & ridges. It is the only unit of the national park system that is wholly within the Artic watershed of Hudsons Bay. The native people of the north and the first Europeans - the fur traders & their paddlers, the French Canadian voyageurs - explored and settled this part of North America using the waters as roads, and canoes as transport. In such ways, we share much of our natural and cultural history with the people of Canada. The boundary between Canada and the U.S. in this area - which is also the northern boundary of the park for over 50 miles - is defined by international treaty as the historic route of the voyageurs. As a water-based national park, Voyageurs provides a window for current park visitors into what it means to depend on water for transportation. The park has fewer than 8 miles of paved roads in it's 218,000 acres - so our access today is by boat, canoe or kayak in summer and by snowmobile, ski, or snowshoe in the winter. The beaver the fur traders came to exploit have returned. They seem to be everywhere and can be watched - swimming, building dams, stripping trees and rearing their young throughout the park. Over time, their dams and tree-felling will open meadows, build soil, and contribute to ecological succession - just as they did when the Voyageurs was the water route of the fur traders. You do not need to have a boat to enjoy this wonderful park and area around it. Hopefully I will be able to interest you in a visit to this wonderful area between Minneapolis/St. Paul and International Falls, Minnesota. When coming in from the south the Mall of America (Bloomington) with it's basement aquarium and large clear tunnels you walk through as fish swim all around you is a must see!! Everling has the Hocky Hall of Fame worth a stop on your way north to the little (450 pop.) town of Orr. The last town before you enter the park built a beautiful visitor's center with information on the park, fishing camps, etc. Do stop there hopefully about 3 or 4pm getting all the information of the area you can & walking the Bog. Then driving the 13 miles west to a logging road that leads you 7 miles into the woods where the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary is open at 5 pm to dusk Memorial Day - Labor Day. Here you will see live wild bears coming to eat the fruit & breads the volunteers put out on tree stumps like Vince Schute did so many years ago. Cubs running up the trees & old bears everywhere. I worked (2) 10 hour days a week at the Orr Area Information Center., driving down about 30 miles from the 1st park visitors center -Ash River where the housing & camping for park volunteer's were located. Most of my day was telling people that came there to see the wild bears what to go and do in the area till they opened at 5pm. Do not miss this stop! The last of August when the berries in the forest are gone and the bears need to tank up for hibernation there may be 40 to 50 bears coming in to get the free food. I would love to tell you about Vince Schute and how this all came about but they will tell you that while you watch from the big wide open viewing deck. Or Google - History of the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary. Remember - always ask questions. You find out so much that way. I will tell you more next time. Jeanette

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON

Page 1 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK - WASHINGTON STATE
Designated a World Heritage Park by the United Nations, glaciated mountains, temperate rain forests, some of the cleanest waters around & some of the biggest trees. More than 600 miles of trails wind through the park’s 1,400 square miles making it one of the premier hiking and backpacking in the country. If you are thinking of trying this check in with the National Park Service. Do not just head out on your own.
I know my readers operate computers or you wouldn’t be reading this. Hopefully I can at least get you enthused enough to type in the name of the park and get all that wonderful knowledge available to see & do. When we worked at Yellowstone National Park a tourist from Washington State recommended Lake Crescent Lodge at Olympic as a good place to work. I was hired to work in the gift shop and Melvin the reservation desk. This beautiful historic Lodge w/cabins was where Theodore Roosevelt would stay when he came to hunt the small deer in that area that are now called Roosevelt deer. Arriving the 1st of June everyday was rainy, drizzly or cloudy. The clouds would lay above us so low you felt you could reach up & touch them. Commenting on the weather to one of the kids we worked with from Port Angeles (20 miles). She replied , “you must be one of those ‘sunny’ people, wait till July 1st and you will enjoy the most beautiful summer you’ve ever spent“. Right she was! Our campground beside the rugged mountains of the park was a short walking distance from the Lodge. Walking out our door the little deer were there eating grass not one bit afraid. Our walk to work was through the old growth forests with thick moss hanging from the trees, wild ferns waist high (I’m not short) with the ground covered with Clover & Trilium. Crossing a bridge over a stream that came from beautiful 90 ft. high, Marymere Falls a mile away. You wanted to just stay there and look at the view around you and never leave. The lodge has a Restaurant & Sunroom with large windows & comfortable chairs to just sit and look at the beautiful lake. No motor boats are allowed but you can paddle across so it’s a wonderful quiet relaxing place. It was like a walk back in time. The park is on a peninsula, like your thumb on your right hand with water on three sides. West side is the Pacific Oceon, Strait of Juan de Fuca is on the north (the line between Canada & US runs through the middle), Puget Sound (with world famous oysters) is on the east. There are lots of things to see & nice places to stay as you drive the perimeters of the park. There are drives back to Quinault & Hoh Rain Forests. You can swim in Sol Duc Hot Springs, make a reservation to stay all night. The ocean in the winters tear away the land and leave huge rock “Sea Stacks” out in the oceon. Most of the beach is covered with huge trees torn away (roots & all) laying in piles that in some places are a real challenge to climb over to get to the beach & Pacific oceon. We found as we traveled when you miss pronounced one of their towns, etc. they would ignore it if you were a tourist but if you came to live there awhile you were corrected and you better remember from then on. One of my hardest, and I don’t know if it’s Kansas or my German ancestry but I have always pronounced Washington like I wash my clothes which actually does sound like war ish (with an r in it) if they heard me I really caught it from the kids and reminded it is Wa ish if you catch my meaning. Port ‘Angeles’ (long e) was another. It is Not pronounced like Los Angeles (spelled the same) but we pronounce angelus. Driving there near Port Townsend we crossed Puget Sound on the Hood Canal Bridge. Then the town of Sequim. I called it like the shiny little round things we sew on clothes only with a M instead of N. No! No! I won’t even try to help you understand how to pronounce that one. It is located on the Olympic Mountain’s rain shadow. The sunny side of North Olympic Peninsula that claims 306 days of sun a year & 16” of rainfall compared to 100”- about 80 miles west in the rain forest. They have discovered Lavender grows there as well as France that supplies most of the world’s supply. The old dairy farms now have 10,000 Lavender plants growing on them. Standing knee deep in a billowing haze of aromatic purple flowers is a fantasy. You can buy it there and it’s a “cure all”. An animal farm in the area for Circus & Hollywood old trained animals to live out their life is a must see. Dungeness Bay is at Sequim with the most delicious large white meat crab you have ever eaten. The influence of the English across the water was Chutney (want that recipe?) served on Fried Dungeness Bay Crab Cakes. Fresh ocean salmon was available everywhere. One of the boys I worked with told me his folks rubbed brown sugar against the grain & brushed it with butter & grilled or fried it. That’s the only way I fix it now. Without realizing living in the different areas of our great land we picked up some of the dialect and when we would come back to Kansas for a couple months in the Spring & Fall our friends would think we talked funny. The Ferry you catch at Port Angeles takes you across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, B.C. which was a great trip and wonderful town to visit. Just walking around seeing all the sights. Or a carriage ride. High Tea in the afternoon was a must do with a delicious little morsel always included.
Hurricane Ridge, part of the park has a wonderful visitor‘s center.. It takes 30 minutes to drive up to it from Port Angeles. The view there is spectacular looking out across the vast mountainous area. Marmots & deer is everywhere and delightful to watch. I have a story to tell you about the back country . I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I do enjoy remembering.
Geologist’s, etc. would hire horse packer’s to take their equipment back in the rugged areas they wanted to study. One of the ladies that had a string of horses and would do that had gotten older like we all do. She came to work part time in our gift shop and I looked forward to the days we worked together to hear her stories when we weren’t busy in the afternoon. Her name is Smokey and she has lived at a little town nearby for over 30 years and loves her horses. She had been a horse packer. One day a gentleman walked into the gift shop and visited with me awhile asking where I was from & how I come to be there working in the shop. After talking awhile he told me he was a reporter from the Sunday Oregonian and was the reporter for the Travel & NW Escapes section and wanted to interview me about my impression of the area as a Kansan. He was doing an article about the adventurous trek, walk on the wild side at Olympic National Park called “Backpacks & Sea Stacks”. I told him he really needed to talk to Smokey and hear her adventures. Her article beside mine was a shaggy bear story. One morning she was camped with her horses near the middle of the wilderness. While she was making her coffee she noticed the horses all looking at one place in a grassy meadow. All she could see was a rotten old log so she decided to walk out there and check it out. She climbed up on the log to look at the other side. Right then a big bear stood up and they were face to face not more than a foot apart. His teeth looked a foot long. Well that bears eyes got as big as saucers when he saw her and he started to run. She scared the living daylights out of him. He kept looking back as he was running away, tripping head over heels and running into things. The rest of the day she was hot stuff with her horses. They didn’t give her any problems that day. She gave up that life she loved because one trip on her horse, a cougar jumped on her as they were starting down a steep bank. They fell clear to the bottom with the horse landing on its back with legs straight up in the air & it left her in bad shape that took along time to get better so she hung it up. She still rides her horses on the many trails in the beautiful area near Olympic National Park. Jeanette

VALENTINE'S DAY SUGGESTION

I was going to follow up vacations with Seasonal recipes. But it's getting close to Valentine's day and us girls have a hard time thinking of anything to give our guy but you know how the way to "a man's heart is through his stomach?" It's true!! My mother-in-law who would be 103 if she was still alive used to listen to Kitchen Klatter program on the radio. A woman told stories & gave recipes. DUH! How times have changed. One day she told (remember this was over 50 years ago) a lady went to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and had a delicious dessert. She asked if she could have the recipe. They brought her the recipe and later she was billed for hundreds of dollars for that recipe. So to pay them back she sent the recipe to every newspaper, etc. because if she had to pay for it, it was now her's to do with what she wanted. My mother-in-law tried the recipe that day and it's been a favorite of our family through 4 generations. The box cake mixes now have a Red Velvet cake mix my daughter said is just as good as the original but I tryed it and it isn't. My husband loves this one and only cake. He won't eat cake which is why it is so funny he loves this cake and I make it for him every year for Valentine's Day. Maybe someone out there would like to do that, too. Here's the recipe.
It's beautiful and lasts longer than flowers, maybe?

WALDORF ASTORIA RED CAKE

1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 ounces red food coloring
1 tsp. salt
2 heaping tablespoons Cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk*
2-1/2 c cake flour**
1 tsp. soda
1 Tab. vinegar
2 eggs

Cream shortening, sugar & eggs. Make a paste of the cocoa & red food coloring. Add to the creamed mixture. Add buttermilk alternately with sifted flour & salt. Add vanilla. Add soda to vinegar (hold over bowl as it foams). Add this vinegar/soda mixture blending instead of beating. {I put one cake pan down on a sheet of wax paper and with the sharp point of a scissors mark around the pan. Double the wax paper and cut on the inside of the marked guide line and you will have a sheet to put in the bottom of each pan that fits flat and lets the bottom of your cake come out of the pan easier.} Pour batter equally in two 8" greased & floured cake pans (with wax paper bottom if desired). Bake 24 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean (dry not gooey). Cool on racks. Cut across the middle of each cake leaving 4 round circles of cake about 3/4" thick. Don't forget to take off the wax paper if you used it.
* Unless you like to drink Buttermilk like my grandpa did or have other recipes for it I suggest buying the powdered kind that you just add water to and the can of powder will keep in the back of your refrigerator till you need it again.
** Cake Flour - you do not need to buy cake flour especially for this recipe. The substitution for using regular all purpose sifted flour is 2 Tab. less of flour per cup. That makes 5 Tab. less for this recipe which is about 1/3 cup of flour removed from the 1/2 cup it calls for. Just a couple tips I use.

FROSTING:
3 Tab. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated (regular) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Cook flour & milk until thick stirring constantly. Chill in refrigerator till cold and thick. Cream sugar, butter & vanilla until very fluffy. Add to first cooled mixture beating until well blended. It should be the consistency of whipped cream (you younger generation Cool Whip). I do all this with the electric mixer.
When the cakes are completely cool divide the frosting in 3rds and frost between the 4 layers not on top. Use one of the tops of original cake for the top layer. If you keep this cake in the refrigerator or somewhere cool the butter in the frosting will set up (just like butter in the refrigerator) and the cake will slice better and you don't have to worry about the cake slices moving on you. However, after you slice it, if you let the slice warm at room temp a little or microwave a second like my daughter does, the frosting will then be soft not hard.

Good luck!! You're going to love it and it's better than a box of chocolate candy. Don't decide to not make it because you think it is to complicated. It isn't. It just takes a little time and you don't want to rush it before everything is cold.
NOTE: If you don't have 8" pans I suggest the one time investment. If you use 9" cake pans the layers will be very thin and hard to handle. If you are family or someone here in Topeka I'll loan you mine.

Grand Teton's Mountains - Recipe

While we were enjoying the Grand Teton's before going into Yellowstone. I ordered a dessert that sounded good. When it came I noticed the shell was a cookie recipe I had for years that were called Tea Cookies and you cooled them out of the oven over your rolling pin and were very lacy looking & delicious. It was easy to tell what the rest was, so here it is. Hope you enjoy. By the way, this is a dairy farmers wife and my recipes say butter and mean butter. They are eventually going to find how good it is for you because it's been digested once for you anyway. Look what a bad wrap eggs got awhile back and now they act like they are a miracle cure. My mother lived to 96 and ate butter her whole life and didn't have arthritis. Those joints need some grease just like the machinery. End of sermon!!

LACY COOKIE BATTER
1/4 cup butter (I mean butter or don't expect the recipes to taste like mine.)
1/4 cup Minute Oats
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tab. pecans, finely chopped
2 tsp. water

Combine the ingredients in a small pan and stir over low heat till the butter is melted. Remove from heat and drop by rounded teaspoons (on a heavy cookie sheet that is greased and floured) at least 3" apart. They will spread out to about 5" in diameter when they cook. This will be 4 to 6 shells for your dessert. Bake 350 degrees 8 to 10 minutes (depending on oven). Remove from oven when lightly browned. Leave on the cookie sheet to set up till they can be removed from cookie sheet, gently first around the edges, with a spatula and put over the bottom of a soup size bowl or custard cup to cool. When it gets cold it will set up by itself on a plate looking all lacy. Put enough White Chocolate Mousse in your cooled shell till it's half full, leaving room for your sliced strawberries.

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoon water
1 Tab. Bailey's Irish creme or Tequila Rose Strawberry Creme
Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add
2 Tab. white chocolate
1 egg & beat well. Chill till cool. Fold in 2 cups Cool Whip.
Chill overnight. Keeps well in refrigerator. This will be enough
for two batches of shells (12). (You can put 1 Tab. of mixture on the cookie sheet making two on a cookie sheet at a time to make a larger serving.)
Spoon the cooled mousse into the cooled cookie shell and cover with fresh sliced strawberries.
Drizzle with thinned Marshmallow Creme back & forth over the
strawberries making a pretty design.

By the way since I am nice enough to share these recipes & have no control
over who gets them I would ask you to use your conscience and not put them
in a cook book, on a cooking show, etc. to make money off of them. I'm not.
Thanks. Jeanette

Yellowstone - Jeanette's Recipe

HUCKLEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Line pan with graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs (2 cups crushed)

Beat together:
6 ounce cream cheese
1- 1/3 cups Whipped topping like (Cool Whip)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour into pie shell.
Cook: 2- 1/2 or 3 cups wild huckleberries
1 cup water till hot.
Add: 3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed together. Stir into hot berry mixture
& cook till clear. Dissolve 1 pkg. Knox gelatin (unflavored) in 1/4 cup cold water.
Add: gelatin/water mixture to the hot berry mixture. Cool completely! When
it looks very ropey & almost set spread over the cream cheese mixture. Chill in refrigerator.

If you haven't got to Yellowstone and can't find Huckleberries you could use blueberries, raspberries, etc. Hopefully you will get to Yellowstone and find some Huckleberries. You can cheat and buy a bag of frozen from the man at the old drugstore at Victoria, Idaho if he can spare them out of his freezer. Huckleberries up there are like Wild Mushrooms in Kansas if you find some you DO NOT TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU FOUND THEM!!!! They will be there again next year. Some of the stores there sell them in jars as jams, jellies, syrups & you might find a sauce you could use to pour on and eliminate all the thickening. etc. with the fresh berries. Good luck and good eating. I will share a recipe from all the area's we worked and spent the summer at the end of my travel information for that National Park. Come on people go I'm hoping this blog will cause Yellowstone to have the most visitor's this year they have ever had . Jeanette

Yellowstone Natl. Park Page 5 (last page)

Madison-on the upperwest side of the figure 8 park. If you decide to drive to the west entrance (West Yellowstone town). I have never been on that road that there wasn't a herd of elk grazing in the meadow along the road. The town of West Yellowstone is a great visit, also. Madison area is a nice place to check on, especially the Ranger Visitor center. Now, going south from Madison towards Old Faithful (that everyone comes to see) look for a sign to Firehole Canyon Drive and bring your swimming suit with you that day and have it handy. It's a beautiful drive and when you get back there you will find a little old dressing shack. Use it and swim in the wonderful old geyser heated water hole. Another thing I don't think you will find on the Internet or the park paper. They don't advertise it but it's there to use. After your swim keep going south and you will end up at the famous Old Faithful geyser that "blows" up regularly within a few minutes of the posted time. Located on the lower west side of the figure 8. They have benches to set on and get the camera ready while you wait. If you arrive right after it went up you have an hour to tour beauiful OLD FAITHFUL Inn & Store. They also have a Ranger movie worth seeing. It's worth your trip to see such a marvel. You will see geysers all over the park but none as regular and spectacular as the "old girl". You may have noticed by now that several major places are in bold and capitalized. Those are where I recommend you make your reservations if you have at least 4 nights (2 on the upper loop & 2 on the lower) to spend in the park instead of calling up there and just staying at one place the whole time. You will waste too much time on the road driving back & forth. This way you will have a whole day (or two if you have more time) to investigate the area you are staying at. Lots to see everywhere and you want to make every minute count. Driving out the east entrance to Cody, WY (53 miles) is a beautiful drive and the little town has a wonderful museum. Lots antique old guns, etc. The largest collection of Winchester rifles in the country. North entrance is (52 miles) to Bozeman, Montana which is a great place to visit. The south entrance (if you came in to Yellowstone at one of the other entrances) is (55 miles) from Jackson Hole really called Jackson, WY if you want to call there for a plane trip to ski in the winter, etc. Get in the habit of looking for the Visitor's center or Chamber of Commerce in any town you go through on your trip & the Visitor's center when you cross a state line. Everywhere in this wonderful country has great things to see. If you go, and I hope you do, please post me a note telling me about it. Everyone in this great country should visit sometime in their lifetime our 1st national park that started our whole National Park system. Thanks for the forsight of those wonderful leaders so many years ago. I think I mentioned in one of the other pages about driving over from Jackson Hole on Highway 22 to the other side of the Teton's and see them from the Idaho side. Driving over the mountain is a breathtaking view. There is a place to stop and hike, take pictures or just "look". On your way over there shortly out of Jackson is a town called Wilson and if you would like to eat the best trout you have ever eaten rolled in finely chopped pecans eat at Nora's Fish Creek Inn. If you drive a little further north from Victor (where you drank your Huckleberry shake at the old drug store) on the Idaho side. The view of the Teton's doesn't even look like the same mountain and you will be in beautiful flat farming country. Have a wonderful trip. Jeanette
Ideas for next years trip will be next - Olympic National Park in Washington state.

Yellowstone Natl. Park Page 4

Don't forget your fishing pole if you like to fish. You can buy a fishing license and try your luck catching one of the famous Cutthroat Trout of Yellowstone Lake. However, you must throw them back. If you get a Lake Trout they are trying to get rid of, you MUST keep it. The restaurants will cook it for you if you are staying in a motel. While you are there don't forget to look up in the sky for eagles & falcons. Yellowstone River watch for swans, beaver, etc.
While you stay at Canyon Village to see the Bison Nature Exhibit, Inspiration Point & Artist Point. At Norris Geyser Basin, a short distance west Don't miss the Ranger 1-1/2 hr. walk (10am-4:30pm?) check your Yellowstone Today paper for times. While at the park please don't do like one woman who sat her child on a buffalo that was walking by because she said, "The park wouldn't have animals in here that would hurt us." This is the wild animals home. This is their territory, we are just visitors, so treat them so. If a Ranger says stay back from a bear but you want to be closer to get a better picture, mind the Ranger!! Drive the speed limit posted!! Over 100 large animals are killed each year because of people in a hurry driving too fast. Again, this is their home, not ours. Be respectful of our National Parks.
ROOSEVELT if you didn't catch your own trout the restaurant here has the best trout in the park. It's the northeast corner of the park(upper right of the figure 8) and has rustic cabins (you may have to step out the door a few steps for a bathroom close by) & use the fireplace if you are chilly. But do make a reservation when you make your lodging reservations for the Covered Wagon ride with country western music, cowboys & steak cookout. It's near there. You just do not want to go there and not do that!! Reservations for that fills up fast. You can also pay to ride a horse or pet one that took you on your trip. FUN! It's a short drive from Roosevelt (east) through Slough Creek to Lamar Valley where the wolves come out in the evening. You will see Ranger's & alot of of people from the Yellowstone Assoc. Institute located there (studying wolves). Ask questions!! Driving on your way to Roosevelt is "Tower" which is another great stop for the best ice cream cones in the park and you can take a short walk there that is worth your time. When you leave there and are driving to the top of the figure 8 MAMMOTH keep your eyes watching the trees, etc. for black bear. They like this area and you might be lucky and see a couple cubs scampering up a tree with momma close by keeping watch. When you arrive at Mammoth don't miss the movie at the Ranger's Visitor's Center. If your child has their Jr. Ranger information filled out by then the Ranger will ask the child a few questions to make sure they (not mom & dad) really saw these things and give them their official Jr. Ranger's badge. If it isn't filled out yet a Ranger at one of your other stops can do it for you. If you choose to stay at Mammoth Hotel the cabins in back are better I think. The little squeaker mammals that have made dugouts under the cabins and in the area like people and come out in the yard in front of the cabins and put on a show. Little kids like to chase them but they'll never catch one. In the evening a large herd of elk like to come down from the hills and eat the bluegrass in the yard around the old military barracks by the visitors center. While in that area drive north to the beautiful stone old main entrance and on the way look up to the right on the rocks for Bighorn sheep & goats. I thought maybe I'd finish about Yellowstone park this morning but I have to go get breakfast again so tomorrow we will cover Madison, Old Faithful & the surrounding things to see around the park. Jeanette

Yellowstone Natl. Park Page 3

"Lake Hotel or Lake Lodge"
The famous Lake Hotel is right on Yellowstone Lake and just behind it is Lake Lodge. Unless you really have a desire to stay in a very beautifully restored historic hotel where they stayed when they came in Stage Coaches. It was the only place to stay at that time. I would rather stay at the beautiful rustic log Lake Lodge that really fits in with it's surroundings. It's a short walking distance between the two and I think more rooms & less pricey. You can still take a tour of the old hotel and in the evening in the lobby in front of the entrance to the restaurant is an area like a big living room filled with lounge chairs. A large window facing the lake that you can sit and have a drink if you desire. Watching the sun go down on the lake and listening to a string quartet or piano performance depending on which night you go. This is something that no one knows about unless you are staying in that hotel or you learn about it working at the park. Anyone is welcome to come there and eat in the restaurant or just sit in the lounge I was telling you about. The park area for the public is a figure 8. By going to the right and making a reservation on the lower right of the 8 (I just told you about) then driving on up to the middle part of the 8 is "Canyon village" between the two is Hayden Valley that Yellowstone river runs through so the huge herds of buffalo are almost always there. A nice turn out to the right has a place to park your car and check both sides of the road. Bears like to dig for roots on the hillside above the park road and the valley below never disappoints you with animals in the mornings & evenings before dark. The Ranger's give free walks & talks with the times listed in your "Yellowstone Today" paper you received at the gate. Try not to miss them because they are so educational. Jeanette

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Take binoculars!!! Ask questions everywhere you go!! Clerks, waitresses, strangers, etc. They may know where there's a bear digging roots or just walking around. Most people that work there love to tell visitor's things to see. If you see a group of cars stopped, ask the people stopped why? What looks like a black speck in the distance, with a scope or good binoculars you will probably see a bear. If a group of buffalo come walking nonchalantly down the road, pull over and keep your hands in the car even if it is tempting to reach out and feel their hair or head as they walk by so close they may brush your rear view mirror. If you drive in from the south (Jackson Hole) you will see the beautiful Grand Teton's on route. If you can time it so you get to Jackson Lake Lodge in the evening before dark. Go inside to the bar area & in front of their big windows you can stand outside and watch the moose below coming out of the willows. If a nice easy float trip down the Snake River, close by sounds good to you. You might want to make a reservation there before you leave or now at the Coulter Bay cabins to spend the night. That is where you met your guide the next morning for a spectacular trip seeing animals in the morning which is the best time to see them. The guide on the boat will be telling you things to see while in the Yellowstone area. I do not recommend going between July 4th & August 20 when school is out. When the crowds start coming in the bears head for the high country and you will be lucky to see a bear. If you have kids think of the education they would get that they wouldn't get in school that week and they can make it up easy. Don't tell the teacher I said so.
If you know when you will be there making reservations for a place to stay in the park is never too early. 1-866-439-7375 or http://www.travelyellowstone.com/ for the lastest park information. When you stop at the entrance of Yellowstone National Park and pay the entrance fee they will hand you a paper "Yellowstone Today" read it! Please do not go to the left to famous Old Faithful, save that till last. Turn to the right stopping at Grant Village to see the wonderful Museum about the famous fire at Yellowstone in 95? If you have children ages 5-12 buy a Jr. Ranger activity paper while you are at Grant Village $3 . It will keep the kids busy finding things instead of complaining like, "When we gonna see a bear", etc. I know what it's like, we have 4 children we took on trips when they were young. I'm not sure of the date but while you are there & I hope the restaurant still sells Huckleberry Shakes you must have one. The berries grow wild in the area and a favorite of the bears. If they don't have them there when you leave. At Jackson drive Hy. 22 West across the Teton's to see the mountains from the other side. You would never know they are the same mountains. At the little old town of Victoria over there the old drug store still has the soda fountain bar and you can "belly up" to the bar and have a delicious Huckleberry Shake. I hope the owner still fries & sells those delicious hamburgers he grills on the side walk in front of their building at noon, with a table full of condiments you fill your burger with yourself. I think it was $2 but of course you have to remember that was 10 years ago his price may have gone up. There are campgrounds all over the park you can park your RV a day or two or camp in a tent. I'll warn you though it can snow 1" on your tent July 12th (unusual) but anything can happen at Yellowstone. Just ask my grandkids. They will never forget that camp out coming up from hot Kansas. Another visitor from Topeka must have been surprised too because she came home and it was published in the Topeka Capital Journal paper. I've got to go fix breakfast now so I'll talk more about Yellowstone and where you might want to stay tomorrow. Jeanette

Working at the National Parks - 1st stop Yellowstone

Working at "Hamilton Stores" which by the way opened shortly after the park was opened to the public. Mr. Hamilton asked if he could build a store by Old Faithful so the people coming to visit in Stage Coaches would have a place to replenish their drinks, etc. on the day trips to get there. We drive that distance now in 30 minutes if their are no buffalo on the road or a "bear jam" that means there is a bear close to the road and everyone stops. Eventually they built stores all over the park at major attractions. Mr. Hamilton was given a 99 year lease to run the stores & the park owns them. When we worked there in 1997 the 3rd generation was running them. The 99 year lease has run out and now they are run by a different group and are called Yellowstone General Stores. I worked at the jewelry counter by the front door. Not alot of people come to a National Park to buy jewely so we were probably the least busy of all the different things they offer. Short order food section, grocery (where my husband worked), clothing of course, photography, and probably more I can't think of right now after 10 years. Anyway, I like to talk and wanted to go to other parts of our country and work part time. That's why I was living on wheels. I would say Hi, and talk to people that came by and find out where they were from. If it was up north from Kansas (home) cool in the summer and not like Kansas hot in the summer. I would ask what they had in their area I could work at part-time like I am doing here? Those people that summer was a wealth of information for me. Sometimes it turned out while they talked they saw something in the jewelry counter they liked and I actually made a sale. I wrote all those suggestions down and when we quit and settled in Topeka, KS. after almost 10 years we still hadn't visited everywhere I had written down. We would take an extra week or two to have time to see everything from Kansas to the next place we would work. We always came back to Kansas when our weather is nice here in April & May after winter employment; September & October after the summer employment. We had 3 of our 4 kids & 7 grandchildren in Kansas we had to spoil awhile. Age 65 - 75 we found was good years to do what we did. We had worked hard our whole lives till then so it was getting harder the older we got. We've met people alot older but sometimes they are a hassard on the road. Usually the larger parks had housing & also a campground plus facilities they would provide. If there was no campground in the park for employees we would find one nearby and the minimum wages we each received payed for our spot and even bought a few groceries! The National parks rely heavily on college students & the combination of retirees & youth works well. They do the heavy lifting when merchandise comes in. We do the little things like stocking that they maybe aren't to crazy about. After all they really took this job to spend a fun summer in the park. They might go on a hiking trip and get lost and not make it back to work their shift. I'm sure it wasn't because a group of them were up partying & drinking (which is forbidden) and just didn't wake up in time. They knew us old retirees would be there on time or several minutes before we opened up in the morning so it was a good combination. The kids also seemed to respect us because we were the ages of their grandparents, not parents. If you are retired and this sounds like fun to you this is a good time to give them a call or e-mail for an application or send a resume' for summer employment. My next post will give you tourists looking for a place to vacation this summer, some ideas of things we learned after living in a park for 3 months. Most of the information I realize you can get off the Internet for anywhere you might want to go but we do have some other things that I don't think they will mention. Till next time have a good day. Jeanette

Vacation Suggestions - starting with Yellowstone - No. 1

After farming the 3 generation farm for 30 years & working for the State of Kansas 10 years. We retired & bought a 28 ft. RV 5th wheel & hooked it behind the truck and took off to see our wonderful country. We found there are alot of other retirees out there doing the same thing. I really like to go to a place and park and live there awhile getting to know the area. Yellowstone National Park, WY, was advertising their 125th Anniversary 1997 so it sounded like a good place to start. We were able to get on as part-time help at Hamilton Stores working morning or evening shift which left us plenty of time to enjoy the animals. What a thrill! I had been there one day on vacation as a kid but I would never have dreamed what it could be like when we were able to be there June to Sept. 18th. We drove in with the last of the winter snow and left with the 1st on the mountains in the distance. Yellowstone Lake is noted for its Cutthroat Trout and they were jumping up the falls in the Yellowstone River heading for the lake. Mornings & evenings Grizzly Bears were easy to see as they cleaned up the winter kill of the elk & buffalo. Black bears, Moose & Wolves were some of the many other animals you see when you find the area they like to be. July 1st when the schools are out and big crowds start coming the bears head for the high country and it's rare to see the bears till the middle of August when they come back down to the valley. The valley with all the geysers in the park keeps the water from freezing so they have food and water there during the winter. Hope you enjoy hearing about our travels and get some ideas from them. Jeanette