Thursday, September 13, 2018

PLANS Very cool last night, down to 48degrees. Up at 7:15 Wilma's time and 6:15 Bill's time (Wil's phone didn't update). 52degrees when we left camp on Clearwater RV at 8:30am. Plans were to stop by Clearwater Historical Museum and Canoe Camp in Orofino, ID, then on to NezPerce National Historical Park in Spalding, ID (to view the original peace medal and silk ribbon) We skipped L&C Interpretive Discovery Center in Clarkston, ID and if possible, want to visit Sacajawea Interpretive Center in Pasco, WA near Kennewick, WA today.  

HOUNDSThis morning, while shutting down water, power and sewer, I commented to the neighbor how well behaved his 3 dogs were last night!  He was picking up dog poop in his caged in fence around the front of his trailer.  Well, the wife opened the trailer door and in a split second, another 4 dogs rushed out of his stinkin' RV yappin, barkin, yellin at me, and making so much noise I couldn't talk to him. He just shook his head. Imagine, 7 stinkin hounds in a 21 foot trailer. They're nuts! We estimate 50% or more of the campers in our campgrounds had one to three hounds.  

Canoe Camp, Orofino, ID

We crossed the Clearwater River from our campsite and headed west on Rt 12 only to stop a few miles down at the Canoe Camp in Orofini directly on the Clearwater River as well. L&C stopped here after leaving the Nez Perce to build dugout canoes at the confluence of two rivers, the Clearwater North Fork and the Clearwater. The Corps spent almost 2 weeks here preparing and repairing equipment and making canoes.

This now prepared the Corps to go down the Clearwater River, then to the Snake River and finally into the Columbia River to the Pacific.  This was all information received from the Mandan, Shoshone and Nez Perce Indians.  

Up the river from Canoe Camp there is now a huge dam (the largest vertical dam in the US) directly across the river from the camp as well as a very large fish hatchery which supplies Steelhead and Salmon fingerlings to stock the rivers.

Wilma is ready to go. 

I couldn't help but notice while traveling along the Clearwater as well as the Lochsa and Lolo Creek and Yellowstone, Madison, etc. in MT and ID the incredible number of insect hatches and the resulting "splattering" of insects on our windshield and front end (not to mention the front of the white travel trailer. Insect hatches have definitely slowed down since Monday while heading into the mountains into cooler climes.


We've been following the L&C Trail along the Yellowstone River, the Madison River, Lolo Creek, the Clearwater River, the Snake River, in MT, ID and WA...amazing. We started Rt12 in Lolo MT and will end to Rt124 in Waitsburg, WA/PAsco, WA.

Notice the Dworshak Dam above the canoe.

Nez Perce National Historic Park, Spalding, ID
We visited the ver good Nez Perce National Historic Park and Museum Spalding, ID and saw an excellent video on the Nez Perce, their culture and influence on L&C as well as the critical importance of the spoken language being passed on.  Missionaries since the mid-1800s to

early 1900s had all but eliminated them from speaking their native tongue, but that has changed. We saw an 1837 dugout canoe as well as an original silk ribbon from a Jefferson peace Medal, only 30 of which were made for Lewis and Clark as Indian

Nez Perce National Historic Park

Chief ceremonial gifts during their visits and trades. (they actually met over 50 separate tribes on their 2.5 year trip).  Wow!  At 0"30 left for Columbia Sun RV resort in Kennewick, WA and traveled along the Clearwater River into Lewiston ID and Clarkston, WA.  

This is the only silk ribbon on display in the USA of
Lewis and Clark's trip. It hung from one of the 30 Peace
Medals made for them to distribute among the native Chiefs, to a Nez Perce Chief in 1805.

Once again, the famous Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce is celebrated in both the video we saw as well as his actual presentation pipe/tomahawk, pipe bowl and hemp bag (used in his 1877 war against the US Army). 








Patit Creek Campsite, Dayton, ID

At 1:00pm we stopped at a unique open field museum, the Patit Creek Campsite; a life-sized silhouette campsite re-created for the Corps of Discovery Camp on May 2 1806 (east). There are life sized metal silhouettes and sculptures of every member of the Corps. A real treat to see what a camp might look like and an amazing piece of art and history! Very special.

Since starting in Philadelphia, we've been listening to the audible version of Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose.  We relive Lewis and Clark's journal entries as well as Ambrose's observations of the history then and now.  And we research daily from the National Park Service sites and our five (5) books on the L&C Trail.  So we've chosen what to see and when to see it.  That's the wonderful thing about this trip.  Yes, we've missed quite a few sites, but the most important of those that are ACCESSIBLE, since 90+% of the trip was by water, we've been able to experience. How great is that!  We're coming to the end of their westward journey since we, like them, are headed down the great Columbia River to the Pacific. 

We are staying at a beautiful campsite called Columbia Sun RV Resort, today and tomorrow. On Saturday, we want to visit the Sacajawea State Park in Pasco, WA then head down the Columbia River. 

Tomorrow, we plan to visit my Mom's cousin, Joy (DeBoer) Anema who lives  in Kennewick, WA with her husband Rich.  While Dean of Women at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, Joy influenced four of the five children, Bill, Calvin, Renee and Dave in positive ways by listening and helping them to make life choices.  She was a kind, "family" connection away from home.