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| Peaceful Pines RV Park |
Monday, July 29, 2019
29 July 2019 Osborn ID to Cheney WA
First thing in the morning we called a glass shop in Spokane and made arrangements for replacing the rear window of the Behemoth on Wednesday. We then drove the two hours to our next destination in Cheney Washington, just southwest of Spokane. We are staying in Peaceful Pines RV Resort ($30 per night with GSC discount). It’s another small and run down park. We had fun backing into our assigned site, but made it without breaking anything. The utilities are good (water Pressure 40lbs) and the WiFi was strong and fast. We did find a good Mexican Restaurant, Arturo’s, in Cheney for dinner. Unfortunately it does not have a bar, but the food was excellent.
28 July 2019 Dante’s Peak
We backtracked to the historic silver mining town of Wallace Idaho. More silver has been taken out of the mines around Wallace than anywhere else in the world. Many of the buildings in the downtown area date back to the late 1800s. Most of the mines are closed now, but the town has become a destination for mountain bikers and ATVs. We had lunch, shopped and checked out the local brewery in a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Portions of the movie Dante’s Peak, the small town in the movie threatened by the volcano, were filmed in Wallace.
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| Wallace Main Street with Dante's Peak |
27 July 2019 Hungry Horse MT to Osborn ID
After waiting to hear from any of the glass shops in Kalispell, we learned that none of them were open on the weekend. So we bought some duct tape and plastic and covered the rear window and headed down the road since we knew we would be in Spokane by Monday and we would have a better chance to get it fixed there. The plastic flapped loudly when we were in the cross wind (which was most of the time) and we had a new appreciation of how important the rear window is for cutting down noise! The drive was uneventful. We have become used to the climbs in the mountains and watching the temperature gauges. We are staying in Blue Anchor RV Park ($40 per night with GSC discount) in Osborn Idaho. It’s a small, old, rundown RV park. Over half the spots are taken up with old run down single wides or old RVs held together with duct tape. The streets are narrow and we had fun maneuvering into our pull through site. But the utilities were good and the WiFi was strong and fast.
26 July 2019 Final Day in Glacier
Leslie seemed to be over her cold so we decided to try and get some more things in Glacier accomplished. One was to hike the Hidden lake trail. We heard the views were gorgeous and there have been a lot of animal sights from this trail. The trail starts at the Logan Pass Visitor Center and we had been advised we needed to be there by 9am to get a parking space. We also wanted to kayak in a glacier fed lake in the park. We would need to get the kayaks inspected for “contaminants” (Zebra Mussel) before we could put in. We also wanted one last lunch at Lake McDonald Lodge. So we loaded up the kayaks on the new wooden standoffs over the bed of the truck, got up early and headed up the Going-to-the-Sun road to Logan Pass. We arrived just before 9am to find the parking lot already full. We circled around the parking lot, along with dozens of other cars, for 45 minutes hoping to get lucky and have someone back out in front of us and that the parking spot would be big enough for the behemoth. We were not lucky. So we headed back down the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The majority of the traffic was headed up toward the pass, so we kept having to stop because the oncoming traffic was not leaving enough room for the Behemoth to squeeze between them and the rock wall since they were hugging the center line. We kept thinking of what Amy, our Red Bus driver and said about how they had a evening patrol that would go down the Going-to-the-Sun road to clean up the broken plastic and glass from cars that hit the wall or slapped mirrors as they pass oncoming traffic.
We made it down without incident and stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge. The lounge was not open for lunch yet so we hung out on the back porch of the lodge and people watched. Following another delicious lunch, we headed for Apgar Village to get the kayaks inspected. After passing the inspection and changing cloths, we headed for the nearby picnic area to launch. Once on the water of Lake McDonald it was just magical. Gliding through a glacier fed lake, in beautiful clear water (we could see the bottom 30 feet down and fish swimming by), with the mountains (snow still on the tops) and glaciers around you was amazing! It was so relaxing and calm. We kayaked for two hours before heading back to shore. After loading up the kayaks we headed back to Hungry Horse. It was with great reluctance that we passed through the exit of Glacier National Park. We could feel it calling us back!
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| Kayaking on Lake McDonald in Glacier NP |
We went into Columbia Falls and took care of some tasks to get ready to pull out in the morning (Washed the truck and kayaks, grocery shopping, fill up on fuel) and headed back to the Wanderer. David backed in to line up the Behemoth with the hitch to make it easier to hook up in the morning when there was a LOUD CRASH!. The rear window on the Behemoth had shattered into a thousand pieces and the kayaks were poking into the rear seats. David had forgotten the back of the kayaks extend a couple feet beyond the back of the truck and they hit the nose cap of the Wander and pushed into the rear window. CRAP!!!! It was after 5 on a Friday Night in small town USA. After checking the window damage, and determining the Wander and kayaks were undamaged, we tried to call the local glass shops and got voice mail. We left messages and hoped one of them would be open on Saturday. Meantime we checked with the RV Park to see if we would be able to stay longer. The site we were in was booked for the weekend. But the spot directly in front of us was open since they had left it open for us to pull through when we left Saturday. So we booked it for Saturday nigh and hoped we could get the window repaired on Saturday in Kalispell. Then we cleaned up glass.
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| Kayak Torpedoes |
Monday, July 22, 2019
20 July 2019 Red Bus
We took a tour ($56 per person) on the famous Glacier Red Bus today. Buses in Glacier have been running since 1914. The famous Red Buses were built in 1935-36. The government ordered 300 buses from the White Bus company for $500 a piece. Glacier received 35 of these buses (Yellowstone had 100 Yellow Buses but sold them all off over the years and are trying to buy them back now) of which 33 are still in service. One is a museum piece and one crashed. By 1999, the buses were getting to be a safety hazard and were taken out of service. Ford Motor Company offered to refurbish the buses and took the 34 that had been used in service, removed all the coach work from the frames and rebuilt the coach work onto a Ford F-450E commercial truck frame. The cost to Ford of refurbishing the buses was $250,000 a piece. They were then donated to the National Park Service. The buses are run by a concessioner for the NPS. The drivers are known as Jammers for when they had to “jam” the manual transmission gears. Our driver, Amy, had been driving the buses over the Going-to-the-Sun Road for 4 years. The morning was a bit cool (45 degrees), so we started out with the fabric top on, but before we started the climb up the Garden Wall, we pulled over and David helped fold the top back. It was a bit breezy and the blankets were quickly pulled out to cover our knees. When you were in the sun, it was pretty comfortable. Amy kept up a constant monologue all the way up to Logan’s Pass. But we learned some things from her speech. One thing that caught David’s attention was the reason why the guard rail in some locations was the original rock walls from the CCC and in other places there was steel reinforced log rails instead. They have been rebuilding the Going-to-the-Sun Road for the last three years as part of a multimillion dollar project. There are places where avalanches had wiped out the original CCC built walls repeatedly over the decades. So in those places, they have installed removable steel reinforced log rails. Every year the park service unbolts the log rails and moves them against the cliff face for the winter so the avalanches can roll through and not damage them. Every spring, they spend two months clearing the snow and avalanche debris from the road and bolt the log rails in place. This year the road opened on 22 June, a bit late, due to a late season avalanche that spread over the road and had to be cleared. This year they will close the road on 15 September so they can finish the rebuilding project. They normally keep it open until the first snow, which is typically in early October.
The views of the mountain from the Red Bus were incredible. Much better than when we drove it since we did not have to worry about driving (Amy had a few choice words about the people driving) and could enjoy the views from the open top bus. We even got to see some Big Horn Mountain goats! This is definitely the way to see the Going-to-the-Sun Road!
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| Sacred Dancing falls |
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| Leslie and David at Sacred Dancing Falls |
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| View from Logan Pass |
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| Logan Pass International Peace Park |
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| Red Rocks |
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| Garden Wall that the Going-to-the-Sun runs along |
19 July 2019 Take Your Medicine
Still trying to avoid the crowded parts of the park, we decided to drive over to the southeastern portion of the park at Two Medicine Lake. The weather sounded familiar, 20% chance of rain, but we hoped it would hold off today. Leslie drove us to the Two Medicine Parking lot. It was almost full when we got there about 11am. We had just missed the 11am excursion boat to the end of the lake and the next one was not until 1pm. So we decided to hike the shoreline trail. We started off on the south shore portion of the loop trail. The weather was sunny, but a little windy and cool. So we had our coats on at first until we worked up a sweat. We took the side trail to Astor Falls, a pretty little multi-tiered waterfall, before continuing up the south shore trail. We were about 2/3rdof the way up the south shore of Two Medicine Lake when we began to hear thunder. But we were in the trees and could not see where it was coming from. When we finally came to a meadow, we could see black boiling clouds coming over the ridge in front of us and down into the canyon where Twin Falls was located, our destination. Two other couples were standing there looking at the clouds when there was a loud rumble of thunder. We all decided at the same time that we best beat a retreat. As we quick stepped back toward the trailhead we started getting pelted by sleet and big drops of rain. So we quickly pulled on our coats and hurried on down the trail. Then it turned to frozen rain and began to cover the ground. After about 15 minutes it let up and the sun came out. By that time we were most of the way back to the trailhead, cold and wet from the waist down. But the sun warmed us up and clouds disappeared over another ridge and it was turning back into a beautiful day. We stopped and discussed maybe turning back to continue our hike, but that would have been an extra 2 miles to the 8 mile hike. So we continued back toward the trailhead but decided to take the side trail to Paradise Point. When we got to the point, which juts out into Two Medicine Lake, the wind almost knocked us off our feet, and looking up the lake we could see a new batch of severe thunderstorms boiling over the ridge dropping hail like a vengeance. That was the final straw, we booked for the trailhead and managed to get there before the worst of the weather hit us. We have decided that 20% chance of rain in Montana really means 100% chance of rain!
We stopped on the drive back at the Glacier Park Lodge. Built in 1915 by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the lodge features vertical wooden columns three stories high made from 800 year old redwood trees imported from the Pacific Northwest. The lodge is just gorgeous! So of coarse we had to stop in the lounge for an early dinner and a couple of drinks to help warm us up!
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| Bever Pond |
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| Astor Falls |
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| Glacier Park Lodge (Check out the solid wood columns) |
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| Two Medicine Lake from Paradise Point |
17 July 2019 Kintla Lake
Having endured the crowds for the last several days, we decided to head for the far northwestern portion of the park again. Weather forecast was for 20% chance of rain. Leslie drove us on the way out, her longest off pavement experience to date. We followed the Camas Road to the North Fork road where it turned to gravel. Stayed on that to Polebridge where we followed the primitive dirt road back into the park. By the time we reached the park entrance, it was a constant drizzling rain, making the dirt road a little slick. When we got to the park gate, the Ranger warned us the parking lot at Kintla lake was already full. But we decided to drive it anyway and hope that someone had left before we got there. The road was not too bad, a lot of pot holes to maneuver around and several stretches of washboard, and having to deal with vehicles coming out from Kintla Lake with very little room on the one lane road for passing. Once we arrived at Kintla Lake, we were able to find a parking spot. We had planned to hike the Kintla Lake Trail, but by the time we arrived, it was a pouring rain that did not show any signs of letting up. We put on our raincoats (need to start carrying our rain pants with us in the truck) and walked around the small campground and over to the Ranger Station before deciding it was not going to stop raining and headed back. David drove back since Leslie had enough of off pavement driving. We stopped at the saloon in Polebridge to enjoy a couple of beers, talk with the locals and of course pick up some more Huckleberry Bear Claws at the fabulous bakery!
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| Kinta Lake |
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| Saloon in Polebridge |
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
15 July 2019 Avalanche Lake
Having learned our lesson, we set an alarm for this morning and arrived at the parking for Avalanche Lake Trailhead around 8:15. We quickly found a parking spot for the Behemoth and gathered ourselves up for the hike to Avalanche Lake. It was cool enough that we needed our coats starting out but quickly shed them on the climb up. We started out hiking one side of the Trail of the Cedars to the trailhead for Avalanche Lake trail (we took the other half of the loop on the way back). The walk through the giant western cedar trees, hemlock trees and black cotton wood trees made you feel tiny and humble. They have been there for up to a thousand years. Incredible.
The trail to Avalanche Lake (6.9 miles including Trail of the Cedars, 827 feet of elevation gain, 1,808 calories) starts at the opposite end of the Trail of Cedars loop and continues through a forest of cedar and hemlock. The first part of the trail climbs up along side a 200 foot canyon with a stream thundering through it. The trail continues to climb but veers off from the stream and into the forest. This trail is very popular, so there are lots of people heading up this trail and even a few on the way back already. It got to the point where we got tired of greeting people! About two thirds of the way to the lake, we came across an area in the trail where the trees had obviously been knocked down from an avalanche from the cliffs above. From the different ages of the fallen trees, it was obvious that this area had been hit by multiple avalanches over the years. A little farther down the trail we came on a deer grazing along side the trail, our first critter sighting after being in the park for three days. We arrived at Avalanche Lake and it took our breath away with its beauty. There were three waterfalls at the far end feeding the lake. Each of the waterfalls was several hundred feet high. We took lots of pictures and sat down to drink some water, have a snack, and absorb. But the beach where we were was quickly becoming filled with hikers. Having read on line reviews, we knew most people stopped as soon as they came to the lake. So we continued around the rim of the lake to another beach that gave closer views of the waterfalls. We then continued all the way to the end of trail marker where we were dumped into a swift flowing stream. Not wanting to hike back with wet feet, we turned back. But we did notice where some folks had bush wacked past the end of trail sign, but were not feeling adventurous to see where it led. We took our time hiking back, absorbing the cool air, cedar scent and the feeling of calm. As we hiked back, the quantity of people hiking up the trail kept continuing to increase. Whole busloads of folks were walking up in large groups. Even so, we were reluctant to complete the hike. This was one of the best trails Leslie and I have ever hiked. Absolutely beautiful.
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| Trail of the Cedars |
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| Creek running along the trail |
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| Avalanche Trail |
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| Avalanche area |
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| Deer along the trail |
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| Avalanche Lake |
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| Avalanche Lake |
14 July 2019 Best Laid Plans
We had several people tell us that Avalanche Lake trail was a must do trail in the park. We also knew that it was a popular hike. So we planned on getting up and moving this morning so we could be at the trailhead parking lot earlyish. But we did not set an alarm, counting on waking up at our usual 8 am. So, we actually woke up around 10 am (We know, rough life huh?). So we did not get to the parking lot off the Going-to-the-Sun Road until almost noon. We hoped we would catch someone pulling out after completing their hike. And sure enough, there were people doing just that, but the car in front of us always got the spot! After two trips around the various parking cubbyholes at the trailhead (There is not a large parking lot parsee), we gave up. Our timing was not right to get a spot. So coming up with a plan B, we decided to continue heading up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the trailhead for Hidden Lake. Guiding the Behemoth over the narrow roadway (the Behemoth takes up more than its fair share of a lane), with rock guard rails or solid rock cliff walls on one side, and oncoming traffic squeezing against the center line because they were afraid of the rock on their side, was an experience. David managed to not clip rock or hit any oncoming vehicles, although it seemed we came within an inch more than once! Most of the pull offs were full of cars as we drove up but were able to stop at three or four for pictures.
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| Bird Woman Falls |
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| View from Logan Pass Visitor Center |
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| View from Going-to-the-Sun Road |
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| View from Going-to-the-Sun Ro |
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| Going-to-the-Sun Road |
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| View from Going-to-the-Sun Ro |
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| Jack Glacier |
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| Lake St Mary |
13 July 2019 West Side of Glacier
Anticipating big crowds in the park for the weekend, we decided to explore the western edge of the park. We got a late start but once in the park, we drove to the trailhead for Rocky Point. The hike to Rocky Point (1.9 miles, 243 feet elevation gain, 469 calories) took us through some old growth forest before we came to where the 2003 forest fire had burned through. The young trees were growing back in very thick and were 6-8 feet tall. we don’t think you could have cut your way through they are so tightly packed together. Rocky Point looks out over Lake McDonald and provides some wonderful views of the lake. Because of that, it is also a very popular trail. We ran into dozens of people on the way out and the way back. We hiked the full loop before returning to the truck. It felt great to stretch our legs out again after the last two weeks of no hiking.
From the trailhead parking area, we drove the Inside North Fork gravel road for 6 miles before it was closed off due to landslides beyond Camas Creek. After returning to Camas Road, we followed it to the point where it leaves exits the park on the west side. At that point, the road turns into a state maintained North Fork gravel road for about 15 miles to Polebridge. The tiny town of Polebridge is named after a bridge over the North Fork of the Flathead River that was built in the 1930s out of telephone poles by the CCC. That bridge has since been replaced after being damaged in floods. We had heard from locals that there was a great bakery in Polebridge, and sure enough, as we pulled into town on the dusty dirt road, was the Polebridge Mercantile! We stopped and went in to the mercantile and sure enough, there was a bakery. Even though it was nearly 5PM, there was still an enticing selection of baked goods. After picking up some Savory Jalapeño rolls, Huckleberry Bear Claws, chocolate cookies and a loaf of fresh baked bread, we followed the dirt and gravel Glacier Road back into the park and up to Bowman Lake. Bowman Lake, in the north west corner of the park (only 15 miles from the Canadian border) is in the bottom of a glacier carved valley and is fed by glacier runoff and melting snow. There is a small campground and boat launch at the western end of the lake. It was simply beautiful! Tall rocky peaks close on each side with the lake stretching into the distance. There were a few hearty souls in the campground, and a couple loading up their inflatable raft from a day of fishing. But it was serene, beautiful, and very calming. We vowed to return and maybe kayak the lake in the following weeks.
After reluctantly climbing back in the truck, we headed back to the Wanderer so we could feed Etta before she was too mad at us for leaving her behind (No dogs allowed on any of the hiking trails) and being late to serve her dinner. |
| Lake McDonald from Rocky Point |
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| Polebridge Mercantile |
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| Lake Bowman |
12 July 2019 Where the Rubber Meets the Road
We drove into Kalispell to get new tires put on the truck at Discount Tire. They were getting close to needing replacing, and David did not want to get on the west coast and need to replace them there (tires are more expensive and disposal fees are massively higher on the west coast). We only had 39,962 miles on them, but being all terrain tires, they were not the best tires for towing. We replaced all six tires with Michelin Defenders, which are better road tires for towing but still can get us around off pavement. They promised that it would only take an hour to replace the tires since we had made an appointment in advance. So, of course it took two hours. We took the opportunity to do some local shopping (David picked up bear spray, just in case).
11 July 2019 Glacier National Park
David worked most of the morning. But in the afternoon we drove into the park and went to the Apgar Visitor Center. There we collected our collected our 43rd Passport Stamp,explored the exhibits, shopped in the gift store, and talked with the rangers to figure out the hiking options. We were a little surprised to find out the park movie is only shown at the east entrance visitor center in St. Mary. We learned from the exhibits that about 12,000 years ago, the area was covered by 5000 feet of ice in the last big ice age. The glaciers have been mostly retreating ever since. The last significant growth of glaciers in the park occurred during the little Ice Age (1300 to 1850) and they have retreated since then. In 1850 there was over three hundred glaciers in Glacier National Park but there are only 30 left today with five of those no longer “active” (ie moving). They estimate that they will all be gone by 2030 at current rates of shrinkage.
We left the Apgar Visitor Centerdrove along Lake McDonald on the Going To The Sun Scenic Byway. The views across the lake were beautiful. The far side of the lake experienced a fire in 2003 and the trees are growing back quickly. We pulled into the Lake McDonald Lodge and were surprised to see the 1934 red busses. We thought they had gone out of service. So we went into the lodge to find out about their schedule of service. Then we went down to the lake. In the early 1900s, guests would arrive at the lodge by boat, so the front of the lodge actually faces the lake. It reminded us of hotels in Bavaria. We then went to the lounge and enjoyed some drinks and a Charcuterie Board, which just reinforced our feeling of being back in Germany looking out over an alpine lake.
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| Glacier Entrance Sign |
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| Red Bus |
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| Lake McDonald Lodge |
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| Chandeler in Lake MeDonald Lodge |
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| Lake McDonald from the lodge |
10 July 2019 Missoula to Hungry Horse, Montana
The drive to Hungry Horse was beautiful. Flathead Lake is just gorgeous! We had a couple of mild climbs that barely slowed down the truck. We took MT2 around the east side of the lake. We are staying at Timber Wolf Resort ($64 per night), which is about 10 miles outside the western gate to Glacier National Park. The resort is built on a hillside and the sites step up the hill. It was a bit steep and a bit tight getting into our assigned site. We had to jockey back and forth a bit to get center in the tight spot and have room for the slide outs without hitting a tree. There are trees close on both sides of the site, the site is barely wide enough for the Wanderer, the neighbors are close, the sewer connection is up hill, the water pressure barely adequate and the trees are blocking the satellite signal (the only local channel is PBS which drops out frequently). But, it is close to the park and the small town of Hungry Horse is just down the road.
9 July 2019 Safelite Replace
The Safelite technician, Ivan, finally showed up at 3 in the afternoon to replace our windshield. It took him about 2 hours to remove and replace the windshield and drive the truck to recalibrate the lane keeping system. I was surprised to see that there were two sensors in the mirror mount with a defroster heater. Ivan was able to remove the toll sticker and registration sticker and reglue them to the new windshield with no problems. David asked Ivan (actually David pestered Ivan with a lot of questions) what the winters in Missoula were like. He said last winter they had 30 straight days below zero and over five feet of snow in the city! Leslie and I agree, we do not want to be up here for the winters, no mater how beautiful it is in the summer.
Monday, July 8, 2019
7 July 2019 National Bison Range
It was a beautiful day here in Missoula today. After watching the streaming church service on YouTube, and driving into Missoula to get our Mexican Food Sunday fix, we drove up to the National Bison Range about an hour north of us. The National Bison Range was initiated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. It is one of 566 national wildlife refuges across the US managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and one of 6 refuges dedicated to Bison. Created to save the American Bison from extinction, it works with the other 5 Bison refuges, national park system and BLM to maintain, improve and manage a public herd of over 2000 bison. The American Bison is also called a buffalo, but in reality it is not really part of the buffalo species, but is a popular name given to them that has stuck. The National Bison Range had a herd of between 325 and 350 bison at any one time. They exchange bison with other refuges and the national park system to maintain the gene diversity. They estimate that prior to the coming of the Europeans to the west, there had been over 30 million Bison. By 1900 there were less than 1000 in public and private hands. The herd in the National Bison Range was started from private herds here in Montana and eventually cross bred with Bison from other refuges and the NPS. They estimate that the current Bison population is over 250,000 but not all are true Bison since some were crossbred with cattle.
We drove the Red Sleep Mountain Drive, an 18 mile loop through the refuge. The first 5 miles we did not see any wildlife. But then we started running into individual male Bison that were close enough to the road to see. They don’t want you to exit your vehicle, and hiking in the park is limited to only a couple short hikes. We ended up seeing a few dozen Bison. Most were so far away from the road that you needed binoculars to see them but there were a few that were close enough to get some good pictures. One of the more interesting aspects is this area was once a huge lake, caused by glaciers cutting off the natural drainage through three canyons to the southwest. The water would build up, flooding the area under hundreds of feet of water until it would break through the glacier cause a massive flash flood through the canyons all the way to the pacific ocean. Apparently this happen multiple times during the last ice age, the last time being around 15,000 years ago.
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| National Bison Range Entrance Sign |
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| Bison #1 |
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| Bison #2 |
Saturday, July 6, 2019
1 July 2019 Arco Idaho to Missoula Montana
The drive from Arco to Missoula on the Salmon River Scenic Byway (US93) is beautiful! The route takes you between two beautiful mountain ranges along the course of the Salmon River for the first half. We had one hard climb, through Lost Trails Pass, right at the Idaho and Montana line, that the truck did just fine on. We have learned that if we don’t try to hold the speed limit and accept climbing at a lower speed, the truck does not get as hot. At the top of the pass was a rest stop so we decided to stop there for lunch. There is also a ski resort, Lost Trails Ski Resort, that David had not heard of before. It, of course, was closed for the season. Coming down the pass, you drop into another valley between mountain ranges.
We are staying a Jim and Mary’s RV Park ($42 per night with GSC) just out side Missoula Montana. It’s a beautiful RV park with mature trees, spacious sites and lots of beautiful landscaping. The owners are gardeners and they show it with lots of flowers and landscapes through out the park. The site was gravel, but fairly level. Full utilities, good water pressure, strong and fast WiFi, local cable TV. The staff was very nice and they bring in local musicians every Wednesday.
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| Wanderer in Jim and Mary's RV Park |
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| Some of the landscaping in Jim and Mary's RV Park |
When we were planning this portion of our summer itinerary, we decided to stay here for ten days for a number of reasons. First we figured we could use a break from the constant hustle and bustle of visiting parks. Second, we wanted to hold up for the fourth of July weekend away from the national parks, figuring they would be packed (as it was we could not find an RV site near Glacier over the holiday weekend). Last, we thought it might be a needed time for maintenance and repairs. On that last point we were more right than we expected. The truck needs new tires (before we hit the west coast with their higher costs of tires and tire disposal fees), and coming out of West Yellowstone, we got hit by a couple of rocks from passing trucks and now need to replace the windshield due to cracks. There were some things we needed to do to the Wanderer as well. We are expecting to receive a new window for the Wanderer from New Horizons, as well as some other parts, while we are here. We also had a number of mail order shipments sent here as well to stock up. What we did not expect was how much we needed to be by a major city to do some shopping and take care of personal stuff (David’s hair was looking like a wild man’s) after being out in the boonies for so long. One of the major purchases was a new grill. We have run into 5-6 RV parks in the last three months that do not allow charcoal grills. Seems idiots pour their hot coals into the dumpsters and ignite trash fire. So we researched propane grills and bought a Colman Roadtrip 225 propane stove. We used it for the first time on the fourth of July for hamburgers and hot dogs. It works pretty well. But we do miss that wood smoke flavor. We will be here till the tenth and then head for Glacier National Park.
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