Week seven started off with a ferry ride across Puget Sound to visit the All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island. I was able to visit with one of the monks (there are 5 in total). He took me on a personal tour of the monastery, shared the history and I was able to light a candle in the chapel. Afterwards I took a ferry to West Seattle to enjoy the views along the waterfront of Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. The next day I worked my way through the metropolitan area and came upon the Starbucks Global HQ, where I stopped for a breakfast. Quite an experience they have created for visitors with unique product, beverage, and food offerings. Following breakfast, I headed to Discovery Park and did a hike along the trails and enjoyed more great views of the Cascade Mountains. After hiking, I wandered over to the area along Lake Washington for some amazing views of Mt. Rainier. The next day my buddy Shan joined me in Seattle for a portion of this nomadic adventure, and we explored all the usual spots in Seattle city before turning east. From Seattle we headed over the mountains, across Washington State, and visited Kootenai Falls before landing at the awesome Springy Point Campground near Sagle, Idaho. After there we continued eastward to Glacier National Park where we camped at Marias Pass at 5,213 feet elevation. After two days of camping, we arrived at Helena, Montana where we scored a super deal on a hotel and a fantastic steak dinner. Helena exists because of a gold rush in the 1800’s which was a “last chance” effort by the lucky panhandlers. Pushing off from Helena, we headed east across Montana to Miles City, where we discovered a great cowboy town with a free campground. The following day we crossed into North Dakota and then decided to go south to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. It was quite an adventure to avoid construction and increased visitor traffic to the area. Once we arrived, we found a fantastic view and campground for the night right behind the “stoned presidents”. On the last day of week seven we made a “bonsai run” for Minneapolis so Shan could catch his flight home. It was an all-day-rain-event with mixed wildfire smoke and fog, so no scenic sights along the way. Week Eight will be the final push east to home, so until then…I’m solo nomad bound again.
