Yellowstone to Everett, WA

We had an early morning departure from Yellowstone. We exited the West gate into West Yellowstone, which is in Montana. I highly recommend an early morning ride around Yellowstone. We saw an amazing amount of activity on our trip out. We were on the move by 6:00am and so were the bison. We had to stop a few times to let them pass. There is still dried bison manure on my trailer as a souvenir. We also caught a coyote hunting in a field. They have very acute hearing and it was evident with his ears perked up that he was listening for his prey. When snow is on the ground they can pinpoint the exact location of a mouse by ear and pounce through the snow to satiate their appetite.

Many a bison causing an early morning traffic jam.

A little distant, but coyote is on the hunt.

When exiting the park, we found a spot along the street for the rig and walked to a great breakfast cafe. What a treat! We both agreed it was the best breakfast in a long time. My omelet was packed with fresh bacon, tomatoes, ham and cheddar cheese.  Add a slice of fresh baked rye bread, fresh hash browns and some grilled tomatoes and I was set for the day until dinner.

Our destination for an overnight stay was to Missoula, ID.  A great place if you need to replenish supplies and find things to do. We could have stayed longer, but schedule did not permit. I hate schedules, but sometimes they are required and I just live with it.

Our stop after that was Hayden Lake, Idaho. It was a short hop as planned. We arrived at Jess’s long time friend that she hadn’t seen in many years. She and Jane met at Whitefish Lake in Minnesota when they were kids on vacation and have corresponded since that time. Jane’s husband Tom is a great guy and he and I have a lot in common, flying and boating are among them. We helped launch their boat on the lake and set up their boat tarp over the cover for their slip. We ate, drank and listened to stories of Jess and Jane’s summers in Minnesota. Tom and Jane, besides opening their house to us, also took us out to dinner. Besides a great meal we had a special dessert. It is called the “Idaho Baked Potato”. It looks exactly like a potato, but it is ice-cream coated with powdered chocolate and topped with fudge and whipped cream. Ten times better than a potato. We were in Idaho so we had to have a potato right?  I think we did it right.

Is it a potato or ice cream? Let your taste buds decide!

Childhood buds (in Idaho they are spuds) reconnect.
Is that a halo above Jane's head??
 Have you seen the sequel to the movie "The thing with Two Heads?
 

Many a windmill farm passed along the way. This was just a shot of three
out of a group of fifty.

After Hayden lake we made our way to Kent, Washington. It was 47 miles short of our land 

destination. We ate out that evening at BBQ Pete’s. Man we swear it was the best BBQ we ever had! And you get a complementary ice cream for dessert. The next day we spent doing a serious restocking of supplies and I had an oil change done on the truck. It was a long day, but we accomplished the tasks at hand.

The following morning it was rise and shine at 5:30 am. Jess calls me Captain Bligh and I don’t understand why. Anyway we were on the roll by 6:00 and made our way to Everett. Mission accomplished we made it to the ramp by 8:30. We stopped along the way to fill up the boat fuel tank at the slowest pump on earth. I think it was pumping oil out of the ground and refining it along the way. It was torture filling up 60 gallons of fuel!

The ramps in Port of Everett are the largest I have seen. They are well kept and floating. We launched ILLUSIONS without a hitch, no pun intended. I parked truck and trailer and when I got to the boat Jess had been approached by the local patrol who wanted to inspect the boat for the coast guard regulated equipment and such. Our handy pre-inspection by the auxiliary came in handy. Once they saw we had one, they cleared us without inspection and wished us a great trip.

The Water we came for. Ready to launch in Everett!!

After settling in at the marina we went to the local marine store. I got my crabbing equipment and my salmon and crabbing license. I now need to catch $146.00 worth of crab and salmon to break even. Fishing report forthcoming.

Tools required for a crab dinner

A crab pot can also serve as a table. I wonder
if this will work after we catch crabs. 

After a short visit to the local farmer’s market we were off to Roger’s place to store our rig for three months. I never met Roger and he never met me. The first time we met was when we drove up to his house. We found each other through a boat user site, the C-Brats. I am a member there because of my C-Dory days. Boaters, in my opinion, are the most willing to help each other out. Within minutes of posting that I needed a place to store the rig, Roger contacted me. So our rig is now resting comfortably on a potato farm. Unfortunately, not the ice cream type.

So 17 days, 3,969 miles later and 361 gallons of fuel we are at our water destination and ready to cruise. Stay tuned.