The Trip – Part 20: The World’s Fair and Yellowstone Redux
I’m not sure if they still hold World’s Fairs, but in 1974 there was one in Spokane, Washington. It was called Expo ’74, and it was said to be the first environmentally themed world’s fair. It ran from May 4 to November 3, 1974. Since it was June 1974 and our return route on I-90 took us right through Spokane, we decided to check it out.
With thousands of visitors for Expo ’74, we figured that it would be challenging to find a cheap or free place to camp near Spokane, so we drove about 40 miles east to the Coeur d’Alene National Forest near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. We found a nice campsite on a creek that fed into one of the bays of Coeur d’Alene Lake. The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and we were ready for some summer fair fun.
It wasn’t difficult to find Expo ’74 since it was in the center of the city. The fair grounds were located on two islands in the Spokane River as well as along the bank of the river. Although I had never been to a World’s Fair before, I remembered the one in Seattle as well as the one in New York because the symbols of each were very well known. Earlier in our trip we had even stopped in Seattle just to see the Space Needle from the 1962 World’s Fair.
We spent a lot of time wandering the grounds looking at exhibits from many different countries. However, I don’t remember many details from the fair other than what I happened to photograph. One thing I do remember is that while we were walking around I heard someone say “Mr. Anderson?” I turned to see a young man who had been in my chemistry class when I was a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It can be surprising to see a person “out of context.”
Leaving the World’s Fair behind, we headed east from Coeur d’Alene on I-90. Crossing into Montana we started to think again about Yellowstone National Park. We certainly had the time and decided we’d love to see the spring version of the park. So, we left I-90 and headed south towards West Yellowstone. Entering the park from the West Entrance we soon followed the Madison River to reach the Madison Junction Campground. This is the same place we camped in the fall so it was almost like coming back to a campground home.
The weather was nice, the mountains still held a lot of snow, the river was flowing fast and flowers were blooming. But, the winter had been tough on the animals and they were in sad shape. The moose and elk were thin and their coats were matted and shedding. Their new antlers appeared to be full size but they were covered with velvet. So, if you’re ever going there to see the wildlife, the fall is definitely better than the spring.
If you don’t mind an occasional acrid whiff of sulfur or mist blowing your way, it’s always fun to watch the mud pots and geysers. Even though we had just seen them last fall, we still spent time visiting all of the geyser basins. This time, however, we were more patient and waited for some of the geysers that are less predictable than Old Faithful.
We stayed in Yellowstone about three weeks, which was longer than we stayed in the fall. During that time we got to know two young guys from Ashland, Wisconsin, and a guy from Iowa. One of the guys from Ashland had a guitar along, as did I, so we had fun playing songs together. I seem to recall that he showed me the chords for George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sun. The guy from Iowa was traveling in a Dodge Dart. He had taken out the two bench seats and put a bucket seat in the front and back on the driver’s side. Then he put a bed on the passenger side and a flower pot on his dash board. It was a clever way to travel without having to buy a van or a trailer!
We also tried our hand at fishing. You didn’t need a license to fish in Yellowstone Lake, you just had to turn in a form telling what kind and how many fish you caught. We stopped at the store and asked what kind of lure will catch the cutthroat trout in the lake. The guy sold me a funny rectangular lure that was yellow with red dots. I didn’t think it would work so when we got to the lake I gave that lure to Kathy and I used another lure that I had in my tackle box. Well, she caught a keeper in no time and I didn’t catch any!
The weather was sunny and beautiful the entire time we were there. This really left us with a feeling that this was a place where we wanted to return. But, it was soon time to continue heading back to Wisconsin.