What's New and Improved at Chez Claire

Walk here, but don't look down!

Time for some home improvement. My kitchen is pretty much where I want it now. I love the cabinets, adore the fridge (in oh so many ways) and the granite counter tops are deh bomb. Then, there is the creepy, dirt dimpled, yellowing linoleum floor. It was fine when it was spanking new, but over the years it grew dingy, yellow and frankly, it was never properly installed in the first place. The edges curl up like under the counter bottoms like the toes of Persian slippers.

A nasty bit, where the old fridge used to sit

The kitchen floor was in such a state of 'high ugly', I always feel guilty when serving food to company. I mean, would you want to eat food prepared in a place with a filthy kitchen floor? Yes, I am hard on myself. However, there was a pretty easy solution - a new floor.

So I scurried over to my local hardware store and made my decisions - I wanted flooring  to either look like tile or stone. I ended up choosing a dark Pergo laminate, that looks like rough slate.

I was surprised when only one guy showed up to install the laminate. I do have a small kitchen, but I wondered how the guy would get the fridge out of the way. No problem, the guy, who was very nice, had no trouble at all. I think if I'd had a dead blue whale in the kitchen he could have easily removed it too.

The old linoleum stays put and a leveling compound was smeared on

In goes the laminate over the floor cushioning pink mat

I was pleased that I was asked for input at many steps along the way, For example instead of just squaring off the tiles, the guy asked if I wanted the tiles laid so 4 corners met on the tiles, or instead have them offset. I went with offset, which is just more pleasing to the Sheldon side of my brain.

Before I knew it, I had a lovely new kitchen floor, with laminate that met under the counters nice and flat, dark enough to not drive me mad with every dropped onion skin, and pleasing enough for my eyes at least.  Behold the very-nearly-almost-new kitchen!

TADA!

Home Again, Home Again

Am home again. Following my South Dakota post, we spent a night in Butte Montana. In the morning it was with great care we trod onto the motel walkway, as it was covered in snow and ice. We spent the day in a winter wonderland, or winter hell, depends on one's perspective. For Ila it was probably hell, as she was driving. The windshield wipers were coated with ice so didn't work well, and the car was totally snow covered. You would imagine that meant the car was fluffy & looked white, but as the snow wicked every scrap of dirt to the car's surface, we rolled along the highway in a crusty, mud brown Honda. Oh well! Am only glad it wasn't me behind the wheel. For lucky me, most of the day 'twas just a white blur of beautiful scenery.

Snowy welcome in Montana along the highway

This spectacle of wild swans was in North Dakota

We survived the snow and ended the day in Coeur D Alene, Idaho. We did a bit of sight seeing at some main street shops. I drove through the town maybe two decades ago, and did not recognize the town at all, it's grown so much.

What I did notice as the town's many art projects. First I noticed moose, everywhere. Moose on street corners.

There were arty moose on street corners

And even arty moose on balconys

The art that most captured my attention were located near the waterfront -feathers, of Osprey and Eagle. The giant metal feathers are near the waterfront and are called, The Guardians of the Lake.

Lovely giant Eagle Feather

Equally massive Osprey plumb, in repose

The next day - after taking the time to get car converted from filthy to shiny clean, we headed west through Washington state. I was at the wheel this time, so there were no Claire photos of the spectacular Mount Hood, an ancient volcano, kept us company on the drive.

We whizzed through Washington state, stopping in Portland, Oregon for a late lunch. There we serendipitously found a city block, lined by dozens of food concessions, most serving foreign fare.

You can probably find everyone in town here in the noon hour

You name a foreign food, and someone on this huge city block is probably selling it

There were trailers and booths serving Asian, North Indian, Slavic, German, Spanish and you-name-it, you can probably find someone serving it. Ila went for Thai, and I dove into a Japanese tray of treats. Afterwards I also bought one of my greatest guilty pleasures - a big 'ole tumbler of Bubble Tea.I love bubble tea! It's a sweet - that's the guilt bit for me - fruity mix with giant tapioca pearls, aka bubbles, floating around in it. You suck up the bubbles through a massively broad straw. Yum...

It was our last night on the road and we spent it in Roseburg, Oregon.

Roseburg, was much larger than it seemed at first. Stalwartly we drove around until we found a motel we decided to stay at. The clerk assigned us to a room, and as we parked in front of the door to our rented unit, we were filled with feelings of discomfort. Next to the room door, high up was a tiny little window. Ila & I shared a look of claustrophobic doom.

We sat in the car for several minutes, grousing about not wanting to feel 'imprisoned' in a teeny room. Just on the verge of just returning the key and getting our money back, I decided I might as well check out the room. Grumpily, I opened the door and went in.

Voila! The room was as claustrophobic as the Grand Canyon! The tiny window visible from the parking lot was the bathroom. Once inside, on the opposite wall was an immense picture window with a private balcony overlooking a beautiful garden, blooming next to - wait for it... wait for it... a river!  Couldn't imagine a prettier room or a sweeter setting. We realized our grumbling had more to do with Day Number Thirty-One on the road, than any room being too small. And it was a wonderful room to enjoy, for our final night on the road.

Our cross-counry trek is at an end.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

I've long known that Theodore Roosevelt, my conservation hero, spent time on a ranch in the Badlands of the Dakotas.  So I was ready for a mini-adventure when Ila and I, on our way west, exited the freeway for a little tour of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.






First up we hit the Visitor Center where a lady Ranger gave us the lay out of the Park, and such. Before we left we got a few souvenirs (and you know I got my National Park stamp & cloisonne pin). Then we did a quick tour of the center museum which is dedicated to a former Bully pres.

Rough Rider, President and Frontiersman, yet born in NYC, just like me

Teddy and his mount in Popsicle sticks. Um... maybe not Popsicle sticks, but they are sticks

 Just outside the back of the visitor center is an old, 'Maltese Cross Cabin'.  The cabin was Theodore's first digs when he lived the life of a Dakota cowboy.

The cabin seemed rather small to me, but it not only had separate rooms and a pitched roof  - you may take time to express your astonishment & envy here - but it also had - prepare yourself - wooden floors. Teddy's digs was quite the upscale mini-mansion of its day.

The Maltese cabin was the mini-mansion cabin in its day.

The craziest fact about this little cabin is while Teddy Roosevelt was president, it was put on display in Portland, Oregon and in St. Louis, Missouri & it 'lived' for a while in Bismarck, North Dakota. Wasn't until the 1950s that it was returned to its present site & was renovated. Bully cabin!

Today this preserved cabin contains many items that Teddy once owned and used. I was particularly taken by the tiny desk. Loved its cunning elk antler inkwell.












After a quick sweep through the visitor center & environs, we headed out to see the park. I was in the driver's seat and got us a little lost to start. Yes, you could stuff me in a barrel and I'd not be able to find my own foot, but there you go. Soon we perused the snowy scenery where we spotted the odd herd of bison in the badlands.  It was 1883 when Teddy first hunted bison in these very hills.

The scenic drive through the park wend its way past the Little Missouri River Bottom lands which is still dotted with winter snows.

There were a couple of spots along the road where acres of prairie dogs all poofy in their winter coats, barked and ran around, looking kind of adorable in their snow covered towns.

Prairie Dog Colony spread across the valley floor

Prairie Dog

Doesn't quite look all that 'badlands' to me.

The Little Missouri River runs through these bottomlands

Our first view of the Peaceful Valley Ranch and the only remaining original farmhouse in the valley. The Peaceful Valley complex was empty during our visit, except for tourists like us. In the summer however, trail rides are possible. 

The old farmhouse built around 1887

One of the historic buildings at the ranch, either the stables or the cowshed

Following our tour of the park, we stopped at a little shop in the tiny town of Medora, just outside the park. After a purchasing a few items to contribute to the local economy, we stopped at local pub. We had a tasty lunch of elk burgers and even chatted a bit with a few of the locals.

The little town of Medora

Medora is a small town that is dependent on its summer population of tourists. Aside from the National Park at its doorstep, it also has the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame.

The Cowboy Hall of Fame is closed just now, but I could still admire its architecture. Loved the bronze dioramas on the sides of the building. On the left a cowboy urges a herd of wild steer forward. To the right, a mounted Indian brave rides after an evasive bison bull; one of the original rough riders.





So, in review, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an under sung outpost in the wilds of the badlands. My photos do not do all of its scenery justice. Here's a dawn photo of the park when it's not snowed under; magical & not my photo.

Gorgeous, right? Hope to get back there sometime and see the northern unit of the park. Oh, and although the bison we saw were in the distance, on our way out of the park, we passed two different bison on the highway roadside, but for a few feet would have been rooting in our snack bag in the back seat, they were that big & that close!

And last, but not least, much later in the day, after leaving Teddy behind, we went off highway a bit to checkout Pompey's Pillar, a National Monument hosted by the BLM.  Like many things early in the tourist season, the park was closed, not to hikers, but to lazy drivers who don't want to take the hour or two to hike out to the monument.  Guess what? That is 'moi'.


No bother! We could view the Pompey's Pillar in the distance as seen below. Here's the facts: In 1806 the Lewis & Clark party arrived at the site. William Clark carved his initials & the date on the rock.  In his journals, Clark named the rock after Sacajawea's baby boy,Jean Baptiste, whom he nicknamed 'Pompey'.

So that's the story of how a famous explorer joined the ranks of graffiti artists who get a pass because they are famous.Well, that's how I see it!

Pompey's Pillar reminded me of photos of Ayer's Rock in Australia