Monthly Archives: May 2010
A Beautiful Day in Montana…
Today was really pretty uneventful. We left Blackwell Island RV Park in Coeur d’Alene about 9:45 heading for Garrison, MT about 240 miles away.
A little over an hour later we entered Montana and the Mountain Time Zone, so 11 am became 12 noon.
About 12:15 we stopped at a rest area for a quick snack lunch, and while we were there, Jan started a crock-pot meal of her world-famous chicken spaghetti. She then puts the crock-pot in the sink to keep it in place. It plugs in just like normal, since the coach inverter gives us AC power on the road. And it really started to smell good as we drove.
Just as on our trip to Alaska two years ago, the scenery between Coeur d’Alene and here is really fantastic. The hills start out heavily forested, and gradually thinned out to these sparsely-vegetated rolling hills.
And as you can see, the weather was fantastic too.
The biggest thing we’ve noticed since leaving the coast is the much cooler nighttime temperatures. It’s been in the mid 30’s almost every night. Last night here in Garrison it was 31 degrees with rain/snow showers.
And as you’ll see below there’s still a lot of snow on the mountain tops.
Even today, although it was very sunny, I don’t think it made 60 degrees.
We arrived at here at Riverfront RV Park about 4 pm and started setting up. About 5pm Jan added the spaghetti to the crock-pot and turned it on high to cook.
Our daughter Brandi called about then to talk about her upcoming wedding on June 21st. Then about 5:15 our daughter-in-law Linda called to chat about Brandi’s bridal shower this weekend.
And the scenery here at the park is pretty good, too. Here’s the view out our front window. Note the snow.
Here’s our site here,
And here’s Mister on the prowl. Note the leash.
We just let him drag it around. After all, the park rules just say “All pets must be on a leash.” Nothing says I have to be holding it.
About 7:30 about a half dozen magpies showed up out in front of our rig. The last time we saw magpies was two years ago in Dawson Creek, BC, Canada, on our way to Alaska. These are really beautiful birds.
Tomorrow we head for Billings, MT for one night, and then on to Gillette, WY for the American Coach Rally.
More tomorrow…
A Coeur d’Alene day…
After lazying around the rig this morning we left about noon on a bunch of errands, but our first stop was at a Starbucks for coffee and a danish.
Then it was off to Bed Bath & Beyond to pick out a gift for our daughter Brandi’s bridal shower. Since she reads our blog, I won’t say what we got for her.
Then we walked to the Borders Books next door to check out the magazines.
Leaving there we drove over to the Post Office to drop off some letters.
By then it was about 3 pm and we decided it was time for a little early dinner so we stopped off at Casa de Oro, a very nick little Mexican restaurant we ate at two years ago when we were here.. And it was still good.
After dinner we found a car wash and got the truck washed. Jan said it was about time since she was having trouble seeing out her window.
Leaving there we drove over to the Fred Myers for gas and groceries. It was nice to find cheaper gas. The last time we bought gas for the truck in California it was $3.30. Here it was $2.73. A big difference.
And the other day when we left Westport, WA I paid $3.70 for diesel. Here today it was $3.20.
That’s 50 cents a gallon! And at 100 to 120 gallons that adds up. Too bad I couldn’t wait.
After doing our shopping in Fred Mayer’s we headed back to the rig for the night.
Tomorrow we head out to Garrison, MT for one night, and then on to Billings for one night.
We will be in Gillette, WY for 4 or 5 days starting Friday the 26th for the American Coach Rally.
More tomorrow…
