Long Winding Road

    Left Tailrace campground was nice.  A Peninsula in the middle of the Missouri River between a Power Dam and a Spillway with plenty of pull-thru sites and a view of the river.  The picnic tables all had sun/wind shades and at night there was so little light pollution that the sky came alive with stars like I can remember from 60 years ago.

     There was an incessant wind fighting me all day as we continued heading southeast across South Dakota.  As persistent and relentless as it was on the drive, it was a blessing when we arrived at our next campsite.  Still in South Dakota, just outside of Vermillion, which it turns out is home to University of South Dakota.  Lynn found a county park on the cheap that ticked all the boxes and made our two night stay so very worth while.  Clay County Park campground was meant to be just another stop on the way home.  It turned into a little hidden gem.  While I prefer pull-thru sites when we're towing the car, I compromise if we're staying for more than just an overnight.  The campsites here are spaced apart well, we got campsite #3 next to the showers and it was big enough to park a 50 foot RV with space for a toad.

    We'll be heading out again in the morning, It started storming while I was writing this, then nickel sized hail started hammering the roof.  It's back to a calming patter of rain drops again now. I really hadn't planned on posting again till after our next stop but it was too much to keep in my head till then. Until next time, Stay safe, Cheers!

The Breakdown

    It's the domino effect that comes to mind.  I didn't realize it at the time but it all started Saturday morning when we left Glacier National Park. I keep 2 separate sets of keys for the RV.  One set has the ignition, gas cap, and door keys.  The second set was the receiver lock, tongue lock, dolly tilt lock, engine compartment and lower stowage doors.  I put the car on the tow dolly Saturday morning after draining the black and grey tanks and we headed south watching the beautiful scenes changing outside as we drove.  I forgot to put the dolly tilt locking pin on, the second set of keys was still attached to it as it sat on the back bumper of the RV. The first domino falls without notice.....

    Our fist stop was in Stanford, Montana at a simple roadside RV park with full hookups and I was able to get the last blog posted Saturday evening.  Sunday Morning we continued south toward Wyoming.  Two and a half hours into the drive, an odd vibration urged me to pull to the side of the road and do a walk around.  You might recall we had a flat on the car dolly the day we left Yellowstone.  With a busy schedule in progress, I never got that tire replaced.  The spare had never been on the ground before so it was almost unthinkable that I would find it completely shredded with the rim grinding down into the pavement.  Domino 2 was the odd vibration urging me to investigate.

    MacGyver would have been proud.  The car dolly was basically on the ground.  No way to even put a jack under it to change the tire.  There were train tracks running alongside the highway and I walked over and found an old 2 by 4 there.  I uncoupled the car from the dolly, wrapped a rope around the rim and tied it to the bumper so I could get the lug nuts off and used the old 2 by 4 to lever the dolly up high enough to mount the flat back on it.  Surprisingly, I was able to get the flat to hold air,  not enough to carry the car but enough to limp along with the dolly empty till we could get a new one.

    Lynn was working away on the phone all the while trying to find a tire shop with a replacement.  It wasn't easy being Sunday and Monday happened to be Labor day.  A domino chain reaction was in play now.  AAA was no help at all and no-one had the tire we needed.  Meanwhile, as I'm getting all this figured out, two more vehicles are pulling over on the side of the road with flats and blowouts.  The dominoes are falling like raindrops.  Not allowing it to get me down, we pushed south to Sheridan, Wyoming and our next scheduled campground with an empty car dolly and Lynn following behind in the car.  

    Next morning, Lynn was still working to find a tire and was able to schedule a tire and mounting at a Walmart in Rapid City, South Dakota.  We departed early and made it to Rapid City by 3pm.  With a deep sigh of relief, the tire was mounted, the car was again coupled to the dolly, and we pulled into Custer State Park for a well deserved two night stay.  We were here back in June 2023 but did not have the car in tow then.  Having the car this time allowed us to do a bit more exploring.  The Iron Mountain Road was constructed during the Great Depression and has 3 hand carved one lane tunnels aligned to frame the presidents on Mount Rushmore as you drive through. 

    After the past few days, Custer State Park was a welcome respite.  We pulled out this morning and followed I-90 East across South Dakota settling into a campsite beside the Missouri River just below the Big Bend Dam on Lake Sharpe.  Tomorrow we'll be following the Missouri River southeast, stopping next near Vermillion, SD for a few days barring any further domino's.   CHEERS!

To the Clouds

     Time to catch up a little.  The National Park Service has strict limits on cell towers.  We spent the last few days camped outside of Glacier National Park.  The last 2 outside St. Mary entrance on the northeast side.  The Johnson Campground had wi-fi but it was less than I have in my home.  Completely worthless unless you sat on the front porch of the office.  There was a very strong wi-fi signal coming from the campground on the other side of the highway but without the password it was of no use.  Still, like so much of this trip, the view from our parking space made the place bearable.

    We drove through the park Friday from St. Mary's lake up to Logan Pass and beyond.  I'm not usually one to take pics like the next one but sometime I can't help myself and Lynn was open to oblige.

    The drive is called "Going to the Sun Road" by the park service but for us it was Going to the clouds.  Its a 50 mile scenic mountain drive crossing Glacier National Park.  There are strict restrictions on vehicle size permitted on this road and for very good reason.  Even driving the car, there were a few places that were less than ideal even at 25 mph.  Calling it a scenic drive is almost an understatement.  The next few pics can display their worth but I wanted to provide a link to see it for yourself in a Video on YouTube.

    Clouds had been moving in from the west and visibility was near zero once reaching Logan Pass.  The visitor center was packed and there wasn't a parking space to be found so we continued on and drove to Crystal Point.

    We stopped at Crystal Point for a few minutes and then turned back towards Logan Pass.  Still buried in thick clouds and packed full of tourists.  I got a few more shots on the way back down but with all due respect, Nothing could do justice but being there.

    Not entirely satisfied with the day, mainly because of the low cloud ceiling we drove back down to the south end of the park and took some time exploring other areas we could navigate.

    Lynn was working on knocking a few things off her bucket list,  Yellowstone and Glacier among them but Animals were on the list as well.  For me it was Moose, but Lynn was looking forward to Bear and Big Horn Sheep.  We had already seen Bear a few times but we ran into a momma with 2 cubs and I thought I'd share this pic.

    Still no sign of Moose or Big Horn Sheep but I'm not giving up hope just yet.  We left out Saturday morning heading south past Great Falls, MT.  It'll be a couple of days driving to our next "Destination."  We've stopped at a small "mom & pop" roadside RV park for the night with not only good cell service, but they provided a good wi-fi enabling me to get this updated and online.  We'll be on the road Sunday and again on Monday to arrive in South Dakota.  Have a nice weekend, Cheers!

Elevation 2992 feet

     Counterintuitive.  That's what it is.  ...more on that later.  A nice day of rest & relaxation at Philipsburg Bay Campground under a forest of lodgepole pines situated alongside Georgetown Lake at a crisp elevation of 6337 feet above sea level.  There were probably less than a dozen campsites occupied.  It was quiet, peaceful, and the perfect break before heading (up? / down?) north to Glacier National Park.

    We packed up and departed Tuesday morning and I'm reminded how its usually "more about the Journey than the Destination."  Descending through the Flint Creek Valley, the landscape opens up into rolling ranch lands dotted with old barns before coming into the town of Philipsburg.  Continuing north, the scene changes and a canyon narrows framed by rugged granite cliffs before opening back up and dropping down into the Clark Fork Valley.

    Joining back onto Interstate 90 west, steep forested mountains close in and rocky bluffs tower overhead as the river curves through another canyon before opening back up into the Missoula Valley and the slopes of Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo.  From there turning north you climb over the Continental Divide again and cross into the Flathead Indian Reservation.  Here, the horizon breaks open into a wide panorama and off to the east, the sawtooth peaks of the Mission Mountains rise straight up out of the valley floor.

    Another steep climb and topping out at the town of Polson to reveal the expanse of Flathead Lake. The lake stretches for miles to the north framed by the mountains.  Driving down to the edge of the lake and then up along the west side, you look down on forested islands and hidden coves floating in deep blue water.  As we continued north, the scene levels out into pastures and the Flathead Valley. The final stretch opens up and draws you into the beautiful, massive peaks of Glacier National Park guiding you down into the riverfront town of Columbia Falls.

    We'll be staying here at Columbia Falls RV Park for 2 nights.  This is just a few miles from the West entrance of Glacier National Park.  From here at least, we can breath easily at a comfortable elevation of 2992 feet.  We'll do a little exploring from here tomorrow and then move across to the east side of the park for a couple more days.  There's a good signal here as well as wi-fi in the RV park.  I'll update again soon, thanks for stopping in. Cheers!