Day 12
Sun. May 13, 2001
Happy Mothers Day to all you
MOMS !
Hi all,
Today we left Polson Montana and headed west
towards Seattle Wa. We went another 400 miles and ended our day in Moses Lake
Wa. about 200 miles east of Seattle. Saw a lot of pretty country. As you can see
from our map we took the scenic route.
At one point on our trip we were only 20 miles from
Elmira, Idaho. We were surprised to find out that 11 states have Elmira's in
them.
Leaving Montana we saw these strange cows in a
feild. They were all black or brown except for a white ring
around there belly. They were having fun playing
leap frog or somthing. I think it's the mountain air out here.
Then in Idaho we started seeing Ram crossing signs.
No we didn't get rammed,
they had all left for high ground.
This is the pic of the day. Lake Pend
Oreille, Idaho
So much driving today and not enought time to take
many pictures. So I'm going to jump back a few days and tell you about a bear
named Fred.
Fred is a 600 lb Grizzley Bear that we met at
Grizzley Discovery in day 8 which is an area that is set aside for problem bears. These
are bears that lose there mom or create a problem with the public. Fred is a big
guy, he stands almost 9 ft tall when he stands on his hind legs. How Fred ended
up in here is a cool story. He was living in Canada just over the line near a
small park. One day he broke into a picnic area and crashed a picnic and then
stole some cinnamon rolls. The rangers tranquilized him and hauled him 30 miles
away. But the next day he was right back in the same spot looking for more
cinnamon rolls. This time the rangers took him 60 miles in a different
direction. But two days later he was right back looking for those cinnamon
rolls.
When a bear is a problem like this they give them 3
chances, then they have to put them down or place them in a place like this
where they will not be a threat to anyone. Well this was Freds last chance so
the rangers tranquilized him and flew him out by helicopter 130 miles away.
Well Fred blew his chance because in just 6 days he was right back looking for
those cinnamon rolls.
Did you know that a grizzley can smell fresh meat up to 2
miles away.
Here Fred had dug himself a hole, then sat in it
like a jacuzzi.
This raven came down and sat on a branch to
entertain him.
What ever he told Fred must have been pretty
funny.
Thank goodness for places like this cause Fred is
one smart bear.
On to Seattle tomorrow.
Keep those letters coming. We love hearing your feed
back.
Love Ralph & Prilly
Day 13
