Sunrise comes late in Idaho. Two time zones separated us from our norm. Our bodies adjusted, but would soon have to adjust back to the Central Time Zone.
This pic, taken that last morning, shows the front steps to our loft apartment, above that shop, in the backyard of our host family. There were windows on the two sides NOT shown in the picture, and it was a pleasant place to stay.
Jim and I were up early, loaded, and ready to leave our home-away-from-home. Ready to head home. Ready to BE home, truth be told.
It was a wonderful vacation but we were ready to sleep in our own bed and not ‘live’ in the truck. Little did we know, that night we would SLEEP (if we could) in the truck — more on that later.
The sun was peeking through sprinkles in a smoke-filled sky that morning.
The cooler temps and humidity made for some beautiful scenes as we traveled from Kamiah to Missoula on Hwy. 12.
I only wish the pictures I took could have captured what we saw. Trust me. It was glorious.
Google Maps said our route was 151 miles and would take over three hours to drive from Kamiah to Missoula.
We saw a sign at Lowell – No Services for 84 Miles. Okay. Another sign later said we’d have curvy roads for the next – get this – 99 miles. And, that was true.
Actually, most of the drive that morning was on curvy roads. Highway 12 is great, though. Somewhat peaceful and desolate with very little traffic. A few people were on the road, traveling somewhere.
Somewhere, we crossed into Montana. I missed it, though. The scenery – whether in Idaho or Montana – was breathtaking.
We saw Lochsa Lodge after we’d been on the road an hour or more, so we stopped. I wasn’t watching the clock but I would guess it’s about halfway between Kamiah and Missoula. This quiet little campground, store, restaurant, and bathrooms were located just off the highway in a beautiful setting. As we got back on the highway, we saw a doe and twin fawns — no time for a picture, though.
That’s when a “quote-worthy” comment came from the driver’s seat:
“THAT was a Kodak moment…and you missed it.”
Yes, I did. Along with about a million others.
Later, another “quote-worthy” comment came from Jim (this one about the traffic headed north):
“You really have to WANT to go to Missoula.”
LOL! Yes! But what a beautiful road to get there.
Seriously, Highway 12 from Kamiah to Missoula is a beautiful stretch of highway and one that should ABSOLUTELY be added to your bucket list. I’m glad it’s one that showed on our Google Maps when I planned this trip.
We could have gone south on more of Idaho’s scenic byways if it wasn’t for our next destination – The Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge MT.
We didn’t have much time to explore the ranch. Especially with a threatening rain and wind storm coming in from the Mount Powell area, but we were there. Would have loved to have had more time to explore.
The Grant-Kohrs Ranch is an operating cattle ranch and a National Historic Site, now owned by the National Park Service. I’m a rancher’s daughter, so it’s good to see ranching celebrated and preserved. But, the REAL connection – the reason I wanted to stop here – is another generational story about a guy who once worked for Conrad Kohrs – Glenn Hollingsworth.
Glenn was the younger brother of Ann (Hollingsworth) Ratcliff and the uncle of Miss Bertha A. Ratcliff. There are several ranchers among the Ratcliffs, Hollingsworths, and Yorks, but Glenn Hollingsworth was perhaps the most notorious. He’s also the reason my brother’s name is Glenn.
The elder Glenn – the cowboy – was born in 1867. He left his home in Kansas as a teenager, and worked with cattle in the Black Hills area before moving to Montana in 1893. Glenn never married and has no known descendants, but devoted his entire life to ranching – mostly on the open range.
In the 1890s, Conrad Kohrs’ cattle grazed on ten million acres in various locations across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Glenn worked for Kohrs (though not at this location) and at other ranches across Eastern Montana for the next 70 years. He died at 96 years…and was still sleeping on a bed roll in his own private bunkhouse on the ranch where he last worked.
That was his life and because of his connection with Conrad Kohrs and our proximity to the NPS Ranch, I had to see it.
Once we left Missoula and headed south-ish, the scenery changed, but was still great, as seen in these miscellaneous pictures (in no particular order at all…..sorry).
We had a reservation at a campground on the backside of the Tetons but arrived so early we decided to go on and find a hotel later. That didn’t work out. It was dark (and we were tired) when we got near Jackson WY, but even the ‘budget’ hotel chains had exorbitant rates…not $100, not $200, but $300 and up…so we drove on in the dark.
We missed a lot of scenery between Jackson and Rock Springs, but we DID get to witness some awesome lightning that helped to keep us awake. There was one absolute downpour but it didn’t last long – thankfully. The time for pictures had passed. It was time to keep my husband awake, and keep watch for eyes along the roadside – deer, antelope, whatever. We didn’t want any four-legged visitors to cross our path on that dark highway. PTL, they didn’t.
We got to Rock Springs after midnight, found a 24-hour truck stop, parked and reclined our seats, attempting to sleep. We weren’t very successful and found out we’re officially too old for ‘roughing’ it.
We survived on a few hours of sleep, and headed east the next morning then crashed at my niece’s home in Severence CO that night. The next afternoon, we got together with my brother and his family and our cousins and their families at our aunt’s house in Windsor CO.
What fun that was. It’d been six years since I’d seen my aunt and two of my cousins; probably 18 years since I’d seen others. Too long. We talked and talked and talked. It was hard to get away, but we had to leave the next morning to go home, and we still hadn’t caught up on missed sleep.
Sunrise came and we were OFF…we could almost set auto-pilot. Getting home from Colorado is easy after traveling so many miles in new territory. Right?
Greeting us was Mufasa – who might have thought he was abandoned. (Our daughter took care of him, but he missed us and was quick to sit by me on the recliner.)
Next to me – also reclining – was one thankful husband, with an exhausted pup who may have wondered if we were EVER going to be home again.
We made it…thankful and blessed.
Thanks for reading “All Aboard” Revisited — my blog about our journey to retrace my grandmother’s 1913 trip.
This is the final installment, but if you missed any of the previous ten posts or any of the pictures, they’re on my blog at www.elainemcallister.com.
Blessings, my friends and family….
Elaine McAllister
(c) 2024
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