“Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!” (OK, OK, So I Mean “Elk & Bison & Bears, Oh My!”)

Posted on July 2, 2022 by rvrrat520

Out of Provo it was northbound for a couple of nights stopover at the Idaho Falls Elk’s Lodge. I had some toilet repairs to complete and they had a Camping World (yuk!) store with my parts in stock. We spent one day showing Max the town’s namesake Idaho Falls which are smack dab in the middle of downtown. Coincidentally, the Snow Eagle Brewing & Grill was right across the street from the falls. We gave Max another shot at a brew pub meal, of which he availed himself another of his newfound favorites, bacon cheeseburger (plain). We tried to talk Max into a walk along the falls path/trail, but he was having none of that. Oh well…

Mr. Pool Shark demonstrates his world-famous “no-look” shot at the Elk’s Lodge…

Ryder Park Lake is a small fishing “lake” (more like pond) in town and Max wanted to try his hand once again. We spent about 3 hours at the lake fighting some healthy winds, but alas, it was not to be. It settled our disappointment to later find out from locals that catching fish in that particular lake is about as productive as sighting a Sasquatch.

From Idaho Falls it was onward to our base camp stay for Yellowstone N.P. We lucked out, sorta. Originally we were to stay at the Livingston KOA north of the north entrance to YNP. But severe storms and snow melt at the beginning of June caused catastrophic damage to Hwy. 89 into Gardiner and the north entrance, as well as cutting off Gardiner from the world. Initial thoughts were that the north entrance into YNP, as well as the entire northern “loop” (Mammoth Springs, Lamarr Valley, Tower Falls et al.) would not be able to be repaired for opening to the public for the rest of the season. However, word being spread is they may be able to save some of the season with timely repairs, it is always best to call them or check the nps.gov website for current conditions and closures. In the meantime, the west, south, and east entrances are open to the public and the entire lower loop is available for use. Due to the severe partial closure, the park has initiated an even/odd system by license plate numbers for even/odd day access to YNP.

Needless to say, we cancelled Livingston and found space at the W. Yellowstone KOA. Outrageously expensive, but a good base for the park and surrounding sights. This was a great family campground with lots of things for the kiddies to stay occupied and had a very nice indoor swimming pool. It also sports a good sized office/camp store with a fudge shop, a small restaurant with outdoor tables, a coffee & snacks shack, clean laundry, and propane for sale. The knock I have to say is the pull through sites are skinny and between thick pine trees with tight turns to get into them. And with all the kids at the park, the bathrooms absolutely need more regular visitation by janitorial staff.

We made (3) every-other-day trips into YNP, one of which we drove through to Grand Tetons National Park, all in a quest for Max to see the wild critters. We did manage to stop off at some of the scenic features; Old Faithful Geyser, Grand Prismatic Springs, Fountain Paint Pot Trail, Dragon’s Breath Spring, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lewis Falls, Gibbon Falls, the Grand Tetons viewing, just to name a few. Spectacular viewing they all may be, but Max’s highlight was seeing a couple of bull elk, a mama bear with her (2) cubs, a couple of coyotes, a boatload of bison, a bighorn sheep, and the one non-highlight where Max slept through seeing a golden eagle while on a road trip. Max did get to make good use of the pool on our non-YNP days, and got to meander through the many shops in W. Yellowstone.

We finished our visit to YNP and decided to meander over to…well, you’ll just have to stay tuned, until next post…

Just Trying to Avoid the Left Coast Smoke

Posted on September 15, 2021 by rvrrat520

The Colorado Springs Elk’s Lodge is smack dab in the middle of town. They have a nice Lodge facility but limited RV hookups which need a little more attention than they get. With a no reservation system, we arrived and the hook up sites were full. Well, sorta full. Of the approximate 13 sites, one was used for parking two cars in, one space was taken by the lodge trailer (I think for their veteran’s program equipment), and the sites are so skinny it could be problematic with dueling slide-outs. The lodge seeks “donations” of $25/night for the hookups (W/30A), with a dump station on site. They have a large paved parking lot and allow dry campers to stay…but seek “donations” of $15/night for boondocking. A little overpriced in both instances.

This was a short stopoff for us. Being the big city town that Colorado Springs is, Jeanne was overwhelmed with joy to find Trader Joe’s & a Costco. We made good use of the opportunity to supply up. What little time for sightseeing we had, Jeanne found the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park about an hour’s drive away near Cañon City. We headed out there early enough on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend that we had easy parking at the visitor’s center of the park. We paid the $30/person fee (Youch!) and wandered the park unencumbered by thick holiday crowds. Jeanne was a little apprehensive about walking the bridge over the Arkansas River (it does tend to shake, rattle, and roll a bit), but she mustered the courage and conquered the approximate quarter of a mile walk. The amusement park itself has various activities (some come with additional fees!), but none of them garnered our interest other than I took the aerial tram ride across the gorge, Jeanne took a pass on that. The views from the tram were a bit obstructed by the foggy/scratchy plastic windows. The park has zip lining across the gorge that was pretty popular, as was a bouncy thing-a-ma-jig, some type of bungee-bouncy-swing perched on the edge of the canyon, I think they call it the Sky Coaster. There are areas for small humans, including a carousel ride, playgrounds, and the park is extremely dog-friendly, K-9s everywhere! A couple of small stage areas are set for live bands (one was sound checking as we were leaving). The walk across the bridge provides great views of the Arkansas River 956’ below, where we watched white water rafting enthusiasts float downstream. There is also a train ride that follows the river, at river level, with viewing cars set up for folks to ogle the scenery.

We left the park as it became absolutely jam packed and the parking lot a nightmare of cars circling like sharks, waiting for that one rare opportunity to present itself. On our way back home, we took the very short side trip onto Skyline Drive. This is a one-way skinny paved road along the Dakota Ridge above Cañon City which provides good views of the valley and nearby mountains. There is also a walking trail along the ridge for those so motivated.

Since our arrival in Colorado Springs we managed to return to “life with smoke”. It seems the smoke from the currently burning left coast wildfires is off-and-on wafting it’s way over the nearby states, including Colorado, so here we go again, breathing labored and eyes afire. It has truly gotten old at this point. Our next stop was just a breather (oh when oh when will the puns stop?!?!?) at the Douglas KOA in Wyoming. Yes, we got rested. And yes, smoke still reigned.

We wanted to explore the Little Big Horn Battlefield (the site of Custer’s last stand for those of you hoodlums who ditched history classes) near the big city of Garryowen, MT. It is a National Monument run by National Parks Service and is really out in the middle of nowhere, not many choices for RV parks nearby. We found the 7th Ranch RV Camp just a couple of miles from the monument, so we called 7th Ranch home for the next couple of days.

The “battlefield” is actually 2 separate battlefields about 5 miles apart. From the visitor’s center/park gate a paved road travels the 5 miles from the area of Custer’s battlefield and his Last Stand Hill to the Major Reno-Captain Benteen battlefield. There is an audio tour available or you can do as we did and explore on your own. Points of interest are well marked and most have signs describing the sights before you. There is an Indian memorial, an Army memorial, and a National Veteran’s Cemetery on site. After the slaughter (Custer & his troups were severely outnumbered by the various Indian tribes involved), the army dead were allegedly buried where they fell. Some years later the officers were exhumed and transferred to other cemeteries around the country, Custer himself was moved to West Point. The remaining deceased were also exhumed and re-buried in a mass gravesite at the top of Last Stand Hill at the Army memorial. All original Army gravesites are marked by white marble headstones, a few with names, most with the generic “U.S. Soldier 7th Cavalry”. The Indian casualties are not accurately accounted for but estimated in the 60-100 range. They were immediately moved by surviving tribe members to traditional burial methods. There are a few red granite headstones scattered in and amongst the battlefields that depict the location where certain named Indians fell in battle. It was about a 3-hour excursion for us to cover both battlefields and other points.

From the megalopolis of Garryowen it was off to another breather stopover in White Sulphur Springs, MT, at the Conestoga Campground and RV Park. Our purpose and aim was and has been to check out some properties all around Montana for a possible landing zone for when we decide to come off the road. From here it was on to the Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman, MT for a longer respite while checking out lots for sale.

In all our running around in the Bozeman area we did manage to squeeze in a hike up the mountain. Jeanne found a mundane sounding “College M” hike, a trail up to the big white “M” created out of painted rocks to designate MSU. There are basically 2 trails up; the shortest, most direct route a little over a half mile one way, the other “easier” trail about a mile and a half that zig-zags up to the “M”. Jeanne, feeling her oats, chose the short route for our uphill trudge. That decision was second-guessed most of the way up, it was WAYYYY steep, lots of gravel and rock face climbing, and she nearly gave up several times. But bless her soul, she muscled up and completed the climb. It turned out to be more than a 600 foot elevation gain in that short half-mile. Enjoying the views while we caught our breath, we were treated to a solo paraglider buzzing the mountain face. Breathing back to relative normalcy, we chose the safer, longer trail back down to the trailhead. All told it was a little more than 2 miles round trip for this “mundane” hike. Well worth the effort…

Of course, with Montana taking pride in their craft beer industry, Bozeman had no shortage of adult beverage dispensaries. Over the course of our 5 day stay (yeah, no, we are not quite ready for the 12-step shuffle) we forced ourselves to test the waters with a little sampling at MAP Brewing Co., Outlaw Brewing Co., and the Bozeman Brewing Co. They all had worthy endeavors.

A little interior art, MAP Brewing style…

So here we sit, at the end of our Bozeman experience, contemplating the fate of the world, throwing darts at the map of the U.S. trying to figure out what state we want to “live in” next. Stay tuned…

W. Yellowstone Follies

Posted on May 19, 2021 by rvrrat520

Before we could EVEN get serious about our travels, we headed back to Caldwell, ID so as to retrieve our bicycles from our storage unit. A couple of days there got us a very nice catch-up visit with Jim & Stacy Camara (former co-workers, from another life seemingly far, far away). Bicycles in the rack, it was onward & upward.

Our first planned gig was to stay in the megalopolis of W. Yellowstone, MT and check out the area other than Yellowstone National Park (we had pretty well covered that on two prior trips). Jeanne found Baker’s Hole Campground just 3 miles outside of town, a National Forest Service campground in the Gallatin National Forest. This was a scenic little campground right on the Madison River and actually had some limited sites with electric hook-ups. It was heavily forested but we actually got a site with enough open sky to get non-HD satellite reception. (Note: this campground fills very fast, it is suggested you get here well before noon if you intend to get a spot with electric. I particularly liked site #22, a long, pull through with probably enough open sky for satellite reception). They had water spigots scattered about the campground, as well as pit toilets, but no sewer connections or dump station on site. The interior roads were pretty skinny & tight, but I think I managed to navigate them without destroying the 40’ beast’s paint job. We got set up, reconnoitered the campground, the Madison River and downtown, and generally settled in for the next 4 days. It appeared to me that the Madison River is a pretty big deal in the fly fishing world (take heed, Paul Sullivan!) and there was no shortage of fishing guide outfits in town.

Our big adventure day we chose to take a bit of a driving tour (200+ miles roundtrip). The first leg of the trip took us from our campsite on Hwy. 191 north to Hwy. 287, then to the areas of Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake. Hebgen Lake was beautiful and fairly large. Unfortunately, a sign posted at the lake informed us that during certain times a green algae pops up making the water toxic to humans and pets. I guess looks can definitely be deceiving. Continuing north on Hwy. 287, just a stone’s throw from Hebgen, we found Earthquake Lake. It seems back in 1959 a 7.5 quake hit the area near midnight causing a massive landslide which blocked off the river in what was called Madison Canyon, creating Earthquake Lake. It was a local catastrophe, 28 people died, about 250 folks (campers in the area and residents) were trapped/stranded as the roads were destroyed by the quake. The new “dam” caused the Madison River to morph into Earthquake Lake, gaining about 9’ of depth per day for about 3 weeks, to its eventual size of 5 miles long and about 190’ deep.

At the small town of Ennis, Hwy. 287 forked off and took us to the two small Montana ghost towns of Virginia City and Nevada City. These are not true “ghost towns” in the strictest sense of the phrase. Nevada City is a group of salvaged buildings that had been relocated and grouped together on the site they now occupy, and is a tourist attraction that at the time of our visit was not open for the season yet. However, we were able to walk about the exterior and at least see the structures from the outside, all in all still interesting to see.

Virginia City is a different type of ghost town. There are numerous currently operating businesses interspersed among “ghost town” structures & businesses throughout the downtown area. Many of the “ghosties” had open doors which gave us views of the interiors as they had operated back in their days. There was also a small “boot hill” cemetery perched on a hill overlooking downtown. Both of these ghost towns are nowhere near anything like normal ghost towns such as Bodie, CA, but are still fun to explore.

Our driving tour continued as we backtracked to Ennis, then continued on the main spur of Hwy. 287 up to Norris, turned east on Hwy. 84 to Four Corners where we started south back on Hwy. 191. Our destination was the town area of Big Sky, MT and along this part of Hwy. 191 we were treated to some beautiful scenery as the highway follows along the Gallatin River. We even happened upon a stretch where we could watch some white water rafters.

This guy was watching the rafters as well…

Upon our arrival to Big Sky, after a short break for lunch at the Lone Peak Brewery & Taphouse, we headed off for Ousel Falls. The trail to the falls was well constructed, well maintained, fairly busy, and pet friendly, so Woodrow Wilson got to stretch his legs and lead us on the short jaunt (1.6 miles) to the falls. The trail had some brief, minor elevation changes, but nothing difficult and no obstacles/rock scrambling. Again, beautiful scenery, worth the effort, but I have to say it was not one of the most spectacular waterfalls we have ever seen.

On our return to the campground, it was time to re-arrange our travel plans. At our last travel day we encountered issues with one of the bedroom slideouts. It appeared the dual motors were not operating in sync. If you know me or have been following this blog at all you already know that I am fairly incompetent in “the ways of the wrench”. So how the heck do I fix this sync thing?!? Well, by golly, when in the dark, find the light, in this case go to the good ol’ standby…the Tiffin RV Network (tiffinrvnetwork.com). Bazillions of topics, comments, common problems, common fixes, etc. posted by Tiffin owners. Lo, and behold, there I found a step-by-step on how to re-sync the slide motors. On moving day, I followed the step-by-step and son of a gun the slide seemed to return to sync. This came with a big “BUT”, as we have recently also encountered a God-awful metallic grinding at the beginning of retraction for that very same slideout. Even in sync, the grind remained. So instead of our formerly planned short travel days here and there through Wyoming toward South Dakota, we decided to change to a straight shot into Rapid City. From W. Yellowstone we headed into Sheridan, WY and took a 4 day respite to check out the area and in the meantime make an appointment for someone to check out the grinding. Jeanne located a mobile RV tech in the Rapid City area and made contact with him to arrange for the diagnosis/repairs. Our 4 day stay in Sheridan, WY will be covered in the next blog post, so stay tuned…

8/18/2019 Hiking & Biking Our Way Through the Northwest

Posted on August 18, 2019 by rvrrat520

We’ve not been real big on reservations thus far in our near 7 years on the road. But Florida, the northeast, and now the northwest are demonstrating that we may need to start relying more on reservations. The northeast and northwest have such short recreational seasons that we are finding it harder and harder to just show up and find space for Rosie the bus pretty much any time we like. So, we plotted out our course towards Anacortes, WA, location for our next meet up with friends Bud and Meredith, and the Butte KOA was next up on our list. This was a return trip for us, nothing new to see in the big town of Butte, but we stayed 3 days anyway. The KOA is kinda run down; grass dead, trees/shrubs needing the services of a “barber”, and interior dirt roads tight in some spots. It fits right in with the town of Butte, Butte being kind of an ugly, dirty little town. We did manage to find a Costco in Helena, about an hour’s drive away, so we took advantage and stocked up on supplies.

Butte in our rear-view mirrors, it was on to Missoula where we decided to stay at the Gray Wolf Peak Casino just north of town. They have 50A E with a communal water spout for 8 RV sites. They charge $20/night, but if you get one of their player’s cards they waive the $20 fee. Wow, since I have quite a collection of casino player’s cards already started, “Where do I sign up?!” We stayed 2 nights here and ended up relieving the casino of a few hundred dollars making it well worth our while. Montana has a strange casino system, to say the least. They have “casinos” at every street corner it seems. These are small buildings/businesses that are basically a bar with a few dozen slot machines. No card games. No table games. Just slots. Gray Wolf Peak is an actual Indian casino, quite larger than most Montana casinos with restaurant, bar, hundreds of slots, but this one differs from most Indian casinos in that it has no card games or table games either, just slots. We had a good time anyway.

Next on our itinerary was Haugan, MT and a place called Lincoln’s 50,000 Silver $. They have a dirt RV lot behind the business with 30/50A pedestals scattered around and a communal water spout for RV’s, and it is free for short term stays. Lincoln’s 50,000 Silver $ is an unabashed tourist trap of a business which touts itself as having Montana’s largest souvenir shop. There is a restaurant and bar, as well as a detached hotel and the RV lot. The bar has the walls covered with silver dollars mounted in boards, with an ongoing count total of over 75,000 of them. The restaurant is unremarkable and well not worth your time, effort, or gastric discomfort. And the “casino” consists of about a couple dozen slot machines only. The gift shop offers a strange mix of merchandise; some of the normal clothing, jewelry, knick-knacks, art, wall hangings, plus a variety of weaponry from knives to swords to battle axes to blowguns, metal “gladiator” style helmets, coins & silver, oh, and all the dope pipes you could ever want. The clerk tells me weed is not recreationally legal in Montana, only legal for medical purposes.

The main reason for our stay here was the Hiawatha Trail (RideTheHiawatha.com), a stretch of the old Milwaukee Railroad line converted for bicycling/hiking. Our friends Stacy and Jim Camara turned us onto this bicycle trail which meanders through the mountains of MT/ID border. It is considered the Crown Jewel of the nation’s Rail to Trail system and covers 15 miles with (10) tunnels and (7) high steel trestles, plus all the scenery you can handle. The St. Paul/Taft Pass tunnel is 1.66 pitch-black miles long and would definitely be a rough go without the required lighting instrument of your choice. The bonus here is that from the East portal trailhead to the Pearson trailhead (that covers 15 miles) it is about a 1.6% downhill grade. You can choose to do the round trip (the downhill half took us a little over 2 1/2 hours), or you can catch the shuttle bus back to the top. We did not have the time (Woody back in the bus) for the round tripper, so shuttle it was. You need to pay a fee of $12/person to use the trail, a booth is set up at the trailhead. The shuttle use is an additional $10/person. Even on a hot day, you may want to consider carrying a sweatshirt with you, the longer tunnels are a bit on the chilly side. The trail is gravel but plenty wide and in few places is a shared-use road with vehicles. Thank you, Stacy and Jim, it was a good time.

The East Portal start of the Route of the Hiawatha.

Bikes packed up, it was hasta luego to Haugan and onward to the Coeur d’Alene Elks Lodge for a 5 day stint. Unfortunately for us, parts of Idaho were experiencing wildfires northeast of us, so we got to enjoy the smoky skies that we miss oh so much from the past couple of years in the west. We used the 5 days to get chores done (had to perform that rare task of hunting down a laundromat for laundry), but we did squeeze in time to walk around the downtown/marina area and also take in the Kootenai County Farmer’s Market.

Welcome to the Coeur d’Alene Elks Lodge.

Jeanne discovered a special event at the Mad Bomber Brewing Co. They do occasional collaboration with local first responders to create original recipes and subsequent brewings, and one night they were having a release party for the latest brew, on behalf of the Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff Association, appropriately named KCSDA IPA. Live entertainment included a young man named Jacob Maxwell who I’m told was on a TV show called “The Voice”. The Mad Bomber Brewing Co. is a rather unique establishment. It was started by some EOD Army soldiers after their return from deployment and is extremely patriotic, pro-military, pro-first responders. It definitely packed ‘em in on the night we were there. God bless America!

Moving day took us to the Wenatchee River County Park for a 3 day stint. This was a fairly nice park alongside the Wenatchee River. It was, however, a bit noisy since it sits between Hwy. 2 and a very active railroad track (I particularly enjoyed the 2 train runs between 0300-0330 hrs…NOT!). We took advantage of this stop to give the bicycles another workout and ran a stretch of the Apple Capital Recreational Loop Trail (about 12 miles worth anyway). It was a fairly scenic ride through the Wenatchee Confluence State Park and along both the Wenatchee River and the Columbia River.

Our home at Wenatchee River County Park.

We wanted to give Woody some outdoor time so we loaded him up and headed into the tourist trap town of Leavenworth, WA. There they have a trail that runs through the Waterfront Park, Blackbird Island, and Enchantment Park alongside the Wenatchee River. Once finished with the trail, we headed back to the bus, planning to return later to play tourista in Leavenworth without the burden of having Woody along.

Jeanne and Woody head out along the trail.

Wenatchee has a Public Market, similar to the one we went to in Napa, CA, which is all enclosed like an indoor mall. When we went to check it out, it turned out to be a lot smaller affair than the one in Napa. We strolled through the market, Jeanne sampled some balsamic vinegars and we sampled some brews from the Wenatchee Valley Brewing Co.

The park we were in did not have space for us to extend our stay, so we moved about 5 miles down the road to the Chelan County Expo & Fairgrounds where they run an open lot with FHU’s for RV’s. Once we were moved in, we went ‘splorin’ in the big city of Cashmere. It is a dumpy little nothing of a town, many business buildings empty, home to Aplets & Cotlets, an apple confection manufacturing business and Crunch Pak, an apple processing plant. We wandered the “downtown” area, then found our way over to the Milepost 111 Brewing Co. to sample some of their wares. They brew a McC’s Irish Red that was OK, not outstanding, but palatable.

Our home at the Chelan County Expo/Fair. Bare lot but hey, FHU’s!

Woody wanted to do some more outdoor time, so we loaded him up again and headed outside of Leavenworth to find the Icicle Gorge Trail. It was a 5-mile loop trail alongside Icicle Creek with some very nice scenery. Woody took it like a champ the whole way. His attention was continually drawn to the many chipmunks we saw along the way…

C’mon, Jeanne and Woody! Let’s get this show on the road!

Once we finished the hike, we returned Woody to the bus, cleaned up, then made our return to Leavenworth to check out the town. Back in the 1960’s in an effort to increase tourism to the area, the whole town transformed itself into a Bavarian themed city. It was miserable to find parking anywhere, we ended up circling around through town a couple times before we found one parking spot far on the outskirts. We started with lunch at a place called Munchen Haus which we found on Yelp. With 1,073 reviews and a 4 1/2 out of 5 star rating, how could we go wrong? Well, the food was unremarkable, felt like eating a brat at the ball game. However they did serve what is called a German chocolate cake ale called Dark Persuasion that was pretty tasty. Gotta like the hint of coconut…The wait in line here was not worth the payoff. And they allow dogs in the seating patio area which it seemed EVERYONE took advantage of, not my choice for dining companions… The shops in town were touristy and crowded on the Friday that we were there. All in all, Leavenworth, WA would not be our choice as a vacation destination.

Looking down the main tourist drag in Leavenworth, WA.

Our grand finale while in the area was another hike on a Rails to Trails participating trail, this one called the Iron Goat Trail, about 50 miles west of Leavenworth. This trail runs a section of the old Great Northern Railway, built in 1893-ish (abandoned in 1929), as a means of transportation between St. Paul, MN, and Seattle, WA. We loaded Woodrow Wilson up and drove out to the trailhead in Scenic. The main trail is about a 7-mile loop, with a 3-mile tag into Wellington to the east and a much shorter spur into the Martin Creek trailhead at the west end. We chose the main loop out of Scenic. A suggestion for anyone choosing to do this hike out of Scenic. Do the loop clockwise. It starts through the lower section, then loops up to the upper section and finishes off with a mile long set of steep, downhill switchbacks. Counter-clockwise however starts one off doing the steep, uphill switchbacks first, which may turn out to be a severe quad/ham-burner, with the greater part of 6+ miles still to finish the loop. The trail is very scenic, at times looks sort of like rain forest, with several train tunnels and what’s left of the snow sheds that were built back then to cover sections of track as avalanche protection. A big caution to hikers on the lower trail section-stinging nettles are everywhere and at times the trail can be a little skinny-wear long pants and long sleeves. On the upper trail it was harder to find nettles. Otherwise, the trail was easy to follow, albeit a bit overgrown in some areas. We were on constant critter watch and although we saw none of the usual suspects (bears, elk, moose, deer, etc.), at least we did not get skunked-an owl was sort of stalking us, licking his chops as he caught sight of Woodrow Wilson.

Well, that will catch us up for now. Moving day tomorrow, onward and upward toward the Anacortes, WA area. Until next post…

7/30/2019 Heading into Cody, WY

Posted on July 30, 2019 by rvrrat520

We found a city park in the town of Columbus, MT, called Itch-Kep-Pe City Park and decided to call it home for a couple of days. This park is run on donations only, no hook-ups, a real bathroom (albeit rustic, at best) with flush toilets, dumpster, and a central water faucet. The park is right on the Yellowstone River and is a popular boat launch area. The main drawback we found was the amount of yahoos barreling down the dirt roads in their “Bubba” trucks, stirring up dust. We were able to find a “site” open enough for our solar system to function at full force and obtain satellite reception for the “tube”.

Our home, at Itch-Kep-Pe City Park in Columbus, MT

Our one big excursion from Itch-Kep-Pe Park was to drive the Beartooth Scenic Hwy. into Silver Gate at the northeast gate to Yellowstone N.P. It was a spectacular 220 mile round-trip drive up and over the Beartooth Pass Summit at 10,947 feet of elevation. We saw some beautiful mountain views, a little bit of snow, and some scenic water falls and lakes along the way. We pretty much got skunked on our main focus of attention – critter watch – with the exception of a small group of mountain goats grazing near the road. A midday stop at the Beartooth Cafe managed to get us fed and ready for the return trip home. I do say, they had some tasty Elk tacos.

We packed up and made it to our next stop, Cody WY. On the way we did our darndest to get hooked up with an RV campground with hook-ups, but wouldn’t you know it, nobody had space for us except for some dry-camping at the Buffalo Bill State Park. Since that park was a bit outside the town of Cody, we found the local Walmart instead. We had 2 days to kill before we could get a spot at one of the local RV parks. I will admit, we cheated just a tad, and stayed both days in the Walmart lot. This particular Walmart is an extremely popular RV-welcoming business. They have a sign posted directing RVers where dumps are located. They also have a water faucet in the “back 40” for RV use. It averaged about 20 rigs staying there both nights we stayed. We spoke with one employee about the length of stay for RV’s and he said despite the “1-day only” rule, many RV’s stay for “weeks”. Even though we “cheated”, we made it well worth Walmart’s while, going on a shopping binge both days there. To kill time while here, we took a drive up to the Buffalo Bill Dam & Reservoir. Just before we arrived we had to pass inside 3 tunnels into the mountains in an area popular for mountain climbing. At the dam we did a walk through of their visitor center. The dam is not wide, but very tall. It was completed in 1910 and at that time was the tallest concrete-arch style dam in the world, measuring in at 325’ tall.

After our Walmart stop, home became the Absaroka Bay RV Park in downtown Cody. That park is a tightly packed lot, but had FHU’s and was only $39/night.

First up on our agenda was the scenic Southfork Drive along the south fork of the Shoshone River. It is about 84 miles round-trip and purports to offer frequent sightings of bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, elk, and deer. In fact the Southfork Drive lays claim to one of the largest herds of bighorn sheep in America. Now, how could we pass that one up? Alas, we got skunked again, as far as bighorn sheep sightings go. But we did manage to see some deer, a couple of large herds of elk, some pronghorn antelope, and what Iooked to be a golden eagle. Great mountain/river views also reward the intrepid traveler who takes on this dead-end drive, part pavement and part dirt/gravel out to the end, including views of Carter Mountain and Castle Rock. Carter Mountain is a 30 mile stretch of various peaks and is touted as one of the largest in the Yellowstone system of mountains. Bonehead me, I was so mesmerized looking at all the mountains I failed to get a photo of the bulk of Carter Mountain. I am truly as sharp as a marble…

The City of Cody puts on concerts in the park during the season, so we packed up Woodrow Wilson and a couple of chairs and headed to the park for a gig put on by a local band named Beacon Hill. They were a kinda bluesy, rockabilly, country mix and drew a good crowd considering Cody also puts on a nightly rodeo at the fairgrounds which competes for an audience. We also would have done a very good job feeding the local mosquito population, except Jeanne found a lavender bedtime lotion for babies by Johnson & Johnson which we doused ourselves in and voila! No mosquito issues! It was better than reeking of deet…

What would a visit to Cody, WY be without a run through the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. The museum is divided into 5 basic sections that a couple of hours would normally be sufficient to cover. However, the section “Cody Firearms Museum” contains an extensive historical gun collection, with numerous pull out cabinets and drawers which you could probably spend one full day going through, especially all you gun nuts out there (you know who you are!). They also put on a short program about raptors where we got to learn about and see a couple of the “residents” of the museum, a golden eagle and an eastern screech owl. All of the “residents” of the museum are rehabilitated, previously injured (many hit by cars), but now unable to return to the wild due to their injuries. It was a nice program…

So Jeanne has to get kudos for digging up all these activities we do, she is a genius at social media apps. Our next outing was another scenic drive Jeanne found in a flyer “Buffalo Bill’s Cody/Yellowstone Country Scenic Drives”. The South Fork Drive previously described was found in this same flyer. This next one is called the “East Yellowstone Loop” and encompasses the northeast corner of the Yellowstone “figure 8” and Lamar Valley. Going out the gate at Silver Gate/Cooke City, it connects with the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and heads back into Cody. In total, it runs to about a 224 mile loop trip. Even though the sun did not want to cooperate with us, we still got some spectacular views and got some critter watching in as well.

Cody considers itself the rodeo capital of the world, and during the tourist season they feature a nightly rodeo at the rodeo grounds. Off we went for a night of country music, clowns, and rodeo stock. Sorry, but I do not even rise to the level of amateur photographer, so my rodeo action shots are quite a bit less than average. We managed to stick it out for about 90 minutes-until a hellacious wind kicked up and we left under our own power before we would have left under wind power.

The ghost town of Kirwin is found about 62 miles south and outside of Cody in the Wood River Valley. It was a mining town (silver/gold) founded in the 1880’s until about 1907, when a massive avalanche gave some of the shacks new addresses and killed a few miners. Attempts to continue mining ran into the 1940’s, but now Kirwin is just a few buildings still standing with secrets yet to be told. A plus, we got to see a few critters on this trip, too. We topped it off with a stop in the megalopolis of Meeteetse, WY, for a cold one and some chow at the Elkhorn Bar & Grill. We both ordered, of all things, here in beef/elk/bison country, their hibachi fried rice. I had shrimp on mine and was amazed at the quality of the meal! I washed it down with a Jeremiah Johnson Scotch Ale (!) and I would highly recommend this place to anyone bold enough to drive all the way out here.

Well, tomorrow the jacks go up and it is onward and upward. Not sure where we will land, just “shut up and drive”. Until next post…

7/21/2019 Great Falls, MT

Posted on July 21, 2019 by rvrrat520

One of the recurring issues we have is with how NOT well locals tend to have accurate knowledge of their towns and surroundings. We got ready to hit the road out of Glacier N.P. headed for Great Falls. We planned on heading down Hwy. 89 straight into Great Falls, but got dissuaded by some of the local folk who said the construction on Hwy. 89 was horrible, with excruciatingly long waits. So we altered our route, circling around about 60 miles out of our way further south before hooking up with Hwy. 200 into Great Falls. When we got set up at our destination we ran into a couple of fellow RVers who had also just left the W. Glacier KOA. They did take Hwy. 89 and it was clear as clear can be, smooth sailing all the way. Harumph! Harumph!

Our new homesite was Dick’s RV Park, Great Falls, MT. The park was not great, but had level gravel roads and sites with FHU’s, albeit a bit beat up. Many of the water spigots looked to have lost battles with RV’s, and ours leaked from it’s handle. But the price was half that of the local KOA, with not much else around to choose from.

There was a bicycle trail just outside the driveway for the RV park, which hooked up to the River’s Edge Trail. That trail is paved to Crooked Falls, then dirt/gravel to Ryan Dam. We gave it a go for about 20 miles, round trip, out to Crooked Falls and back. Black Eagle Dam/Black Eagle Falls, Rainbow Dam/Rainbow Falls, and Crooked Falls were scenic views, all kinda parts of the “Great Falls” system of falls on Big Muddy (the Missouri River).

The trail we rode outside the RV park to get to the River’s Edge Trail.

We met up with our friends Zane & Theda Shaulis, whom we met at the Allegro Rally in Casa Grande, AZ, a few years ago. They are residents of Great Falls and showed us around during our stay. Their son-in-law Zack works at Jeremiah Johnson Brewery in town and we got a tour of his facilities. Jeremiah Johnson Brewery is a microbrewery for the area, not widely distributed (yet), and their flagship brew, Mountain Man Scotch Ale, is very tasty. They brew a vanilla porter that is also a must-try.

Great Falls holds a pretty large Farmer’s Market downtown on Saturdays, so we met up with Zane & Theda and strolled the market. It was a spread out affair, occupying several closed streets. They had all kinds of crafts booths besides a large contingent of produce booths, but the strange ones were a couple of booths selling “wands” and spell related things, I didn’t get the gist of them. I had no idea sorcery or witchcraft were popular themes in Montana of all places, I would have thought them more suitable for somewhere in Oregon or San Francisco…

Next stop on our Great Falls tour was a free car show at Giant Springs State Park. There were a couple of dollars on display there, here are a few pics.

Zane & Theda had charge of their young grandson, Hunter, so we stepped across the road from the car show to the Giant Springs and the fish hatchery they have there. Jeanne & Hunter fed the fish at the hatchery and we got to check out Giant Springs. The springs are the source for the Roe River, one of the world’s shortest rivers at 201’, emptying into Big Muddy. The springs water could not be any clearer, with a whole lotta green shrubbery growing under water.

Jeanne & Hunter feeding the fishies at the hatchery

We took Woody out for a walkabout along the Northshore trail near Ryan Dam & the Great Falls of the Missouri, namesake for the town. I can only imagine what all these falls we have seen here would have looked like before civilization put in all the hydroelectric dams. Even with the dams, they are quite scenic. At this dam there is an “island” area (Ryan Island) with nice viewing areas, picnic areas for families, and a sway bridge to access those areas. It was pretty cool.

Well, tomorrow is moving day. Still not sure where we will land, somewhere between here and Cody, WY. A very BIG thank you to Zane & Theda for all the good times and the steak dinner they hosted at their home. As usual, stay tuned until next post…

7/15/2019 Glacier National Park 2019

Posted on July 15, 2019 by rvrrat520

Boy, howdy, this will be a very short narrative. Pictures do little justice and words do no justice to the spectacular scenery found at Glacier National Park. I’m just gonna post pictures, some with captions and some without, and let that tell the story. Before I get to that, a couple of things…We got here the week after the 4th of July and met with a little disappointment in that rangers informed us that several of our intended hiking trails were only partially open because of snow. It looks like if you want to visit here, best be done around August or later. The traffic was horrible, just like Yellowstone. The parking areas for popular places like Logan’s Pass and Avalanche Creek fill up extremely early in the day, Logan’s was full by 8:30 daily. And we tried to get into the Many Glaciers area at noon one day but there was no parking available in the whole state of Montana (or so it seemed)! But we did get a hike or two between sightseeing. The park really recommends and encourages use of the free shuttles but for us that would be tough having to coordinate with leaving Woody in the bus and getting back to let him out. So without further ado, here’s some photos…

The Jackson Glacier, seen from the Road to the Sun.

Polebridge is a one-horse town, so to speak.

Hope you enjoyed them. Until next post…

7/8/2019 Kalispell, Montana

Posted on July 8, 2019 by rvrrat520

Our stay in Kalispell took us to the Kalispell Elks Lodge. They have several W/E gravel sites (30A) and the lodge has a gym like I have never seen at any Elks Lodge so far. There are 3, count ‘em, 3 racquetball courts, a room with stationary bikes/treadmills, etc., and a pumping iron room with free weights. A real locker room affords lockers, showers, a dry sauna, even a trainer’s table. Rustic, at best, but my kinda gym, not for yuppies to be strutting around, flexing for the mirrors and looking suave and “de-boner”.

The weather was not all that great during our 8-day stay in Kalispell. Most days had rain, overcast, and/or thunder & lightning, but at least it was not cold. Between rainstorms we did manage to get out and “see stuff”. We spent a couple of days checking out Whitefish, MT, home to Whitefish Lake & Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort. We walked around downtown old town and fought the crowds at the Whitefish Arts Festival. We also paid a visit to the Bonsai Brewing Project, a local micro-brewery, and sampled their wares, adult beverage-wise. Sorry, BBP, nothing to write home about.

Posted conditions at the Whitefish City Beach, on Whitefish Lake.

One day we took a walkabout around downtown old town Kalispell. They like their “climbing” art in Kalispell, there were a few “climbers” on the sides of some of the old buildings. We stopped in at Kalispell Brewing Co. for a taster (sorry Kalispell Brewing, nothing to write home about here, either). We tried Bias Brewing Co., also in the downtown old town area, also an underwhelming experience. Jeanne found the Wheat Montana Bakery and Deli where we just HAD to try one of their huckleberry cinnamon rolls. What a big ol’ gob of gooey goodness that thing was, it was HUGE!

St. Matthews Church in downtown old town Kalispell.

Another road trip took us out to the Libby Dam and Kootenai Falls, a roughly 90 minute drive out of Kalispell. There was about a 6 mile stretch of Hwy. 2 where they were tearing it up for reconstruction, so the going was slow through all that gravel & dirt. I’d hate to drive the bus through there, although it is passable as evidenced by all the big-rig truckers going through. The Libby Dam creates Lake Koocanusa on the Kootenay River. Kootenai Falls is a little farther west on Hwy. 2, between Libby and Troy, MT. Near the falls there is a swinging bridge which I enjoyed watching Jeanne nervously navigate. The falls were very scenic with a deep green color to the Kootenay River.

Hwy. 2 had some issues for about a 6 mile stretch on the way to Libby and Kootenai Falls.

Kalispell put on a 4th of July parade through Main St., so we leashed up Woody, grabbed our chairs, and hoofed it down to Main St. to set up for the parade. The parade drew quite a crowd and lasted for about 90 minutes. The parade participants threw candy to all the kids, creating quite the scramble amongst the little ones.

The “fly-over” getting ready to kick the 4th of July parade off, downtown Kalispell

One of the few fairly clear days we grabbed Woodrow Wilson and headed out to hike to the Foy’s Overlook, one of many trails found at Herron Park near Foy Lake. It was a moderate uphill hike that got Jeanne a-huffin’ and a-puffin’, but some of the views were very nice and the downhill return was a plus. My experience with Murphy’s Laws is, if I got to hike uphill to get there, then I have to hike uphill to return as well!

Jeanne and Woody on the trail to Foy’s Overlook.

Kalispell, like many towns here, does a Farmer’s Market every week. We ventured down, daring the rain, and did a little produce shopping. This was a real farmer’s market, albeit a smaller version, with many “grown product” booths to choose from.

The town of Kalispell lays claim to the Conrad Mansion, in which they sell guided tours but we passed on the tour. From the looks of the outside, a tour of the interior would pale in comparison to some of the antebellum mansions we saw in Natchez, MS. But we did walk the exterior and learned from signage that it was built in 1895 for the Charles Conrad family, he being the founder of the town of Kalispell. The mansion, now museum, is situated in a neighborhood of historical older homes that reminded us a lot like the old McDonald mansion district in Santa Rosa, CA (for those of you back there that actually read this blog!)

We took a drive, again daring the rain, out to the Hungry Horse area to scope out the Hungry Horse Dam, areas of the Flathead River, and the Hungry Horse Reservoir. The 4 mile drive out to the dam from Hwy. 2 was very scenic, with some spectacular views of the Flathead River. The dam was supposedly the 2nd highest concrete arch dam in the world when it was completed. It was certainly huge. A quick stop at the visitor’s center and it was off to do a little Jeepin’ on some of the USFS roads. We got some pretty nice “bird’s-eye views” of the reservoir and surrounding mountains, even with the limited sun.

The Flathead River downstream from Hungry Horse Dam.

On our last day in Kalispell we needed to do some forward recon for doggie day care for the time we will be in Glacier N.P. There are numerous trails for hiking (no dogs) throughout that park, a few of which will be in the 8 hour (or better) range. That puts a strain on our “leaving Woody in the bus” time frame, he is generally good for 5-6 hours before we have to get back and let him out to do business. So we found Columbia Mountain Kennels in the Columbia Falls area, which we were able to set up a couple of days for Woody for the exhorbinant price of $15 per day, 0700-1900 hrs. Since we were in the area…Columbia Mountain Trail was calling our names. We let Woodrow Wilson lead our excursion up the mountain to the tune of a 6+ mile hike. We’re already up here in the clouds, but this hike took us up another 1600’ in elevation. We were rewarded when we came upon one of the waterfalls on the mountain (I don’t think the waterfalls are named). And after the hike we stopped off at the Sacred Waters Brewery for a taster and some “linner”.

Jeanne and Woody getting ready to do battle with the Columbia Mountain Trail.

Our time in Kalispell done for now, tomorrow it is onward to the West Glacier KOA for our tour of duty at Glacier N.P. Until next post…

6/30/2019 Lolo Hot Springs and Rollins, MT

Posted on June 30, 2019 by rvrrat520

Lolo Hot Springs is a tiny little nowhere about 20 minutes outside of Lolo, MT. They have created a small resort area along the Lolo Creek with a restaurant/bar, the hot springs and pool area, a lodge for those allergic to camping, horse riding trails, and the RV/tent area across the road. The RV sites leave a lot to be desired, rutted grass/mud and not delineated at all, with W/E only (30A) and a dilapidated dump station on site. Prairie dogs are everywhere! But it is a very scenic canyon area with a great possibility for critter sightings. We passed a herd of Elk on our way out from Lolo.

We took the opportunity to soak in the hot springs. They built a concrete pool around the natural springs and enclosed it in a wood frame structure. The water was definitely hot and relaxing on those tense neck muscles…

The only place to ride bicycles here was along Hwy. 93. We quickly ruled that out based on the way the locals drive out here – you would think they are racing at the Daytona 500! So we settled on a road trip into Lolo & Missoula for some urban exploring. In Lolo we found the Lolo Peak Brewing Co. for a little brew tasting. We were underwhelmed there, but made up for it at our next find. The Lolo Creek Distillery is a new venture and right now they are producing gin and vodka in various flavors. Their honey-huckleberry vodka was very tasty, I could use it as a “sippin’ vodka”. While there, I just had to try the “Rip ’N’ Lips”, a Lolo Creek Distillery relative to a Moscow Mule. Tasty, not too much jalapeno…

Some of the offerings at Lolo Peak Brewing.

Another road trip day for us took us farther west along the Lolo Creek and the Lochsa River to the Lolo Pass Visitor Center. As usual, scenery was not lacking, and we got fleeting glimpses of a moose and a black bear…so fleeting we had no time to snap a photo. They did a nice job on this visitor center, there are some displays, a short nature trail, souvenir shop, and overall rest stop. The ground squirrels were colorful and plentiful. On our way back we stopped at the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove and took the short walk through the cedars and along the river.

Moving day we headed back north on Hwy. 93 to the megalopolis of Rollins, MT, which is right on Flathead Lake. Rollins Restaurant & RV Park was home for a week. It was a very nice facility, not real big (43 RV sites, 7 tent sites), with the restaurant and a meat shop on site. The meat shop offered, among other things, various meats (beef, buffalo, elk mostly), varieties of jerky, and varieties of cheese curds.

Our terrible view out the front yard at our new home in Rollins.

Not a lot of bicycle paths around here, but Jeanne did manage to find a section of The Great Northern Historical Trail, part of Rails To Trails of Northern Montana, that runs from Somers to Kila (22 miles one way). We got a clear day and got ready to load up for a bike ride, but I got tangled up with a bicycle pump and my low air front tire & wouldn’t you know it, brute strength and awkwardness led me to rip the stem from the tube. Minor change in plans, time for a road trip to the nearest bicycle shop which happened to be all the way into downtown Kalispell, Wheaton’s Cycle. If you ever happen to be in the area and in need of anything bicycle related, the folks at Wheaton’s are outstanding as far as customer service. They got us right in for an inner tube change and “bada-bing, bada-boom”, problem resolved. We hooked up with one of the Kalispell trailheads for the Great Northern Historical Trail and proceeded out along Hwy. 2 to the big city of Kila, about 11 miles one way. The trail was OK, paved at least, but I was kinda hoping for a little more wilderness and a lot less civilization. They do a nice job on their bicycle trails here, there were plenty of benches for rest stops, a picnic area, a port-o-potty and a pit toilet along the way. If we were expecting some wildlife sightings, we got disappointed in a big way. But hey, the blood got pumping and the air was fresh.

Jeanne gets ready to do battle with the Historical Trail…

On our last day at Rollins, it just happened to be the best weather day for our whole stay, temps in the 70’s and low wind. KAYAK TIME!!! I say “low wind” before we ever set oar on the water at Flathead Lake. But once we got our Sea Eagle inflatable kayak under way, we quickly found out the “swirly” nature of the winds over the lake. After spinning a few donuts (not by choice), we figured out the rhythm and spent the next couple of hours cruising the shoreline between Rollins and Lakeside. It was a nice counter to the leg workout we got on the bikes the day before.

So tomorrow we suck up the jacks and we’re off to Kalispell. Until next post…

(Tech notes, part dieux…I have no idea how I did it but it looks like I replaced my missing photos from some of those earlier blog posts 2014-2015-ish. I still need to continue through to ensure no further pix are missing. Granted, my sharp-as-a-marble memory may have replaced some of the original pix with different ones, I just hope I did not post photos from Nevada that were actually from Wyoming!)

6/19/2019 Into Montana We Go…

Posted on June 19, 2019 by rvrrat520

Success! We managed to fill in all the gaps (even during the dreaded 4th of July week) with reservations for our stays leading up to our time at Glacier N.P. From St. George it was north for a few days’ return stay at the Springville KOA (Provo, UT). We wanted to drive the Alpine Loop and check out some of the trails off the loop, but weather gods were not looking favorably upon us, the Alpine Loop was actually closed (snow). So we settled on a little bicycle riding through downtown (the Provo/Orem area has very nice bike paths throughout the downtown areas). In fact, the trail along University Av (Hwy. 189) continues as the Provo River Trail. This takes one through Mt. Timpanogos Park, Canyon View Park, Canyon Glen Park, Nunn’s Park, Bridal Veil Falls, and into Vivian Park. We broke it up into 2 rides, about 25 miles and 10 miles respectively. Bridal Veil Falls was very scenic, as usual, and the Provo River was raging pretty good on this visit. Provo had a farmer’s market one day which we just had to attend. It turned out most of the “farmer’s market” was food tents (of the cooked/prepared type) and crafts. Jeanne managed to find the only booth that actually had produce for sale and appropriately ordered up some of their lettuce & kale.

Northward ho and into Jerome, ID for a couple night’s stay at the Snake River Elks Lodge while we waited to pick up our general delivery mail. The Elks Lodge is on an 18-hole golf course, very green, but otherwise the Jerome area is kinda dumpy, tons of farmland, not much to do. We had already checked out the Snake River area a few years back and this was mainly just a mail stop for us.

Our home at Snake River Elks Lodge. We had to stare out the front window at the hideously deep green grass of the 18-holer.

Next stop…Dillon, MT at the Countryside RV Park for a few days. Dillon sits in a big bowl surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The area is very large and green, with cattle ranching seemingly the big agricultural endeavor here. We are starting to see more interesting critters now. Near the ID/MT border we saw a massive Golden Eagle take off from its perch on a fence. We saw what we both agreed was a badger scooting along near the roadway. And we are now in the middle of prairie dog country where the little yappers go non-stop. Pronghorn deer are also becoming more common sights. Jeanne also identified our avian neighbors as Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Our big outing for this stop we decided to visit Bannack State Park, home to the ghost town of Bannack, the first territorial Capitol of Montana. The state does a nice job of maintaining the 50-60 buildings still remaining. We the people are even allowed to enter many of the buildings, some of them still containing artifacts from the mining town days. It was an interesting experience, however the state does such an outstanding job of maintaining the town, it was “too clean” as far as ghost towns go. The ghost town of Bodie, CA, is still at the top of my all-time favorite ghost towns, nationwide.

Our last day here we drove the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway between Wise River and Dillon. It was very scenic, however we missed out on the little side trip to the ghost town of Coolidge and the Elkhorn Mine & Mill due to the road closure. Oh well, we got to see critters (badger, pronghorn, deer) as well as receiving a very light dusting of snow.

Some of the scenery along the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway.

So, we’re jacks-up tomorrow continuing our way north, hopefully with little to no snow. Until next post…

(Tech notes: My cyber-incompetence just drives me nuts sometimes, OK, most-times. It seems a few years back, leading up to 2015, I managed to make a whole bunch of photos disappear from my blog posts. The captions remained, just no photos to view. I don’t know how, but I may have figured out how to fix it, it took a lot of trial-and-error, not to mention a few bottles of bourbon and cases of beer. I will slowly but surely be working on replacing all the missing pix, so bear with me. I just hope I can get the right pix in the right spots…)

Road Trippin', Watkins Style

Prowled county roads for a living, prowling country roads in retirement!

Category Archives: Montana