14-21 Jul 2015; Back in Wisconsin!

What a great week!  We left the Sioux Falls area early on the 14th, planning to make a stop in MN before we made it to WI.  We thought this last 360 or so miles would take quite a bit longer than usual because we had been warned several times to avoid I-90 in MN due to road construction and really bad stretches of interstate.  So, we took I-90 for a bit to just inside the state of MN where we caught MN60, and took it as far as Mankato, MN where we picked up US14.  We stayed on 14 until we got to Rochester, Mn where we jumped back on I-90.  With the exception of small bits of road construction, the highways we took were mostly four lane and in great shape, so we made real good time.  We called the Fort McCoy, WI FamCamp to see if we could get in a day earlier than we had planned, and they said sure!  We had reservations for the 15th-19th initially.

When we arrived, we were amazed at how nice the park is…this place rivals any high-end RV park we have ever stayed at.  We got checked in, and headed to site 52…but wait, there is an RV in site 52??  Back to the office we went.  Apparently wires got crossed somewhere when we decided to arrive a day early and no one put in the computer that they put someone in our site for one night.  Oh well, we got the site 54, which is right next to the one we would have been in, and I think it was a better site anyway.  We spent the evening riding around and exploring the place.  If you can think of it, they have it here. At least 150 spots, cabins, yurts, tent sites, 47 campers all set up that you can rent, hiking, biking, fishing, swimming, kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, pontoon boats, paint ball, firing range, full hook ups and large sites…very nice, and open to the public as well.

On Wednesday we checked the park out a bit more, did some grocery shopping, and hit the farmers market in Tomah where we loaded up on a ton of fresh produce.

Great trails on Ft McCoy.

Everything is very well maintained.

Sites are very large and wooded.

The old (and current) headquarters building at McCoy.

This place is so nice that we called Ashley and Garreck (our daughter and son-in-law) to see if they could make it up from Kenosha for the weekend.  They made things work out, and would be able to make it up Friday night along with Toby, so we got a site for them really close to us.  We were real lucky, as the camp ground filled up for the weekend.

Thursday was awesome!  We headed out to Sparta to bike the Sparta/Elroy trail.  This is part of the Rails to Trails program, offering over 100 miles of old RR bed that has been converted to hiking and biking trails.  The weather was cool and rainy…perfect for a long bike ride.  We only did about 18 miles, but it was well worth it.  Most of our trip was up a 3% grade for about 8 miles to get to the longest tunnel in the area.

Crushed limestone is used for most of the trail.

Entrance to the tunnel that is almost 3/4 of a mile long. This tunnel was dug by hand!

Terri just entering the tunnel. It is so long that they recommend you walk your bike, and you for sure have to have flashlights, as the other end of the tunnel is just a small speck when you enter.

About halfway through. The work the folks did that built this is unreal.

A shot of the ceiling of the tunnel.

Made it to the other end!

If you enlarge this photo, you will see a small speck near my left shoulder…that is the tunnel entrance on the other end.

After that great trip, we headed into Kendall for lunch, and then headed out to a cheese factory to get some fresh cheese curds.  It’s been a while since we had the fresh squeaky ones!

Friday and Saturday were a blur…Ashley and family arrived early Friday evening, and we had a great time catching up.  On Saturday, we were joined by a great friend that we all knew in Montana, Kevin Warzinski.  Kevin retired not too long ago, and lives about 80 miles from where we were camped, so it was awesome he made the drive down to catch up!  We were all so busy having fun and catching up, that I completely forgot to take any pictures of the rest of the weekend.  Oh, apparently it stormed really bad early Saturday morning…so much so, that Ashley and Garreck left their pop-up for the safety of the open parking lot, away from any trees that may fall.  I say apparently, because Terri, Toby and I slept through it all in the Coach.  We didn’t hear a thing!  I checked the weather before we went to bed, and it was supposed to be clear all night, so I left all the awnings out, and a bunch of other stuff.  I think we were real lucky that nothing got torn up in the wind.  We did get a lot of rain too, as my grill cover was full of water in the morning.  Averted that one I guess!

On Sunday we were up and ready to go about 0900, when Garreck had an issue with the electronic roof on his pop up…it wouldn’t come down, so he resorted to the manual mode of 80 revolutions per inch to get the sucker down and stowed.  We still don’t know the root cause…it will go up electronically, but not down.  The mechanism has a lifetime warranty, so that is good.

We finally hit the road about 1030.  Ashley went on ahead in my truck since she had an appointment, and I stopped just north of Racine at a Blue Beacon truck wash to get the Coach cleaned.  I have always heard good things about these places, and was glad to finally check one out.  They did a really good job, as the Coach had not been cleaned real well in several months.  Terri went ahead with Garreck and Toby to get the truck, and I headed off to Cliffside County Park in Racine to get set up.  We found this park last Oct when we were up here.  It is beautiful, spacious, and has all kinds of trails and playgrounds, which is good, because Toby is with us.

Back in site #10 at Cliffside on Lake Michigan.

About $24 per night for 50AMP and water, no sewer. They have a dump station though. Not a bad price for this area.

On Monday, Terri and I picked Toby up from school, and headed over to Ashley and Garrecks house for a while, then headed back to the park.  We were up early today to explore a bit.

Wild raspberries and black berries along the trails.

Toby loved the berries!

Right next to Cliffside is the Racine Eco-Justice Center, which is an environmental education center founded on an old farm in 2004 by the Racine Dominicans.  What a great little find!  Alpacas, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, geese, ducks, gardens, you name it…all for free and they have booklets that you can borrow for self guided tours.

Staring down the goats.

They finally came over to eat some of the grass and berries Toby gathered for them.

Well, that’s about it for now.  Toby and Grams are taking a nap, then who knows what.  Ashley and Garreck will be joining us this weekend with their camper, and have the site next to ours.  Terri, Toby and I will be headed to the FMCA Ralley in Madison next Tuesday, so we are looking forward to that, as it will be the first Ralley we’ve attended.  Then we will likely come back here for a bit before we head further North, where the rest of the family will be joining us for our nieces wedding on the 8th.

As always, we hope this finds you Happy, Healthy and Living Your Dreams!!

6-13 Jul 2015; SE Montana and South Dakota…Moving Eastward

Howdy all!  While we continue to push East, the heat continues to stay with us.  We experienced some of the hottest temperatures anyone had seen in Great Falls, and the SE part of Montana and South Dakota have been really warm as well.  That did not stop us from checking out everything there was to see over the past week however.  Knock on wood, the AC systems in the Coach have been working great, keeping us cool when it is needed.  The fridge on the other hand really suffers when temps get hot.  It has to work overtime, and we have had several instances where the interior temp of the fridge reached near 60 degrees.  With the sun beating on the outside of the Coach, there is not too much you can do other than monitor your food.

A few Tech Tip updates before we jump into the day-to-day part of this post.  The Pure Power Blue (PPB) seems to be working really well.  We have had no odor at all, and the “waste” appears to be almost 100% liquid, which is a really good thing.  The active ingredients in this stuff seem to be doing their job.  We also have had no issues with the wash machine since we shortened the hose in the stand pipe.  We plan to be in Wisconsin later this week, so we will ship some more of the PPB to our daughters house.  We haven’t stayed anywhere more than a few days since we left Great Falls, so it is hard to get mail or UPS deliveries.

On Monday, the 6th of July, we were up early and raring to get down the road.  We were hoping to pull out at about 0900, but as with most plans in the RV world go, they change. One of the last things we do is check the fluid levels and the tire pressure before we hit the road.  While checking the last tire, we had the same issue that we had experienced in Texas…the core of the valve stem would not stop the flow of air after I pulled the tire gauge off.  I put the stem cover back on to prevent more loss of air, then located a valve stem core tool and tightened the core.  This worked…I thought.  After airing the tire up, the same issue reappeared.  Bupkiss!!  On the phone with Good Sam travel assist once again.  They located a local tire shop, and the guy pulled in about 1100.  He took out the old core, and said that there is nothing wrong with it…what the heck does that mean?  Well, he explained that our tires had been “bead” balanced.  I had never heard of that before.  Apparently rather than use weights on nice looking rims, some dealers balance the tires with beads which according to the tech are like little BBs inside of the tire.  If you use a standard valve stem core, eventually one of this BBs will work its way in between the mechanism that lets air in and out of the valve stem and keep it in the open position.  OK…thanks for the education…now what??  Well, the tech went to his truck and came out with a core like I’ve never seen before.  It is almost 2/3 longer than a normal core, and has a small filter on the end of it.  He installed the new core, aired up the tire, and said I’ll never have the problem again with that tire.  He went back to his truck and pulled out a bag of the things and stuffed them in my pocket.  He said it was not a matter of if, but when the rest of the tires will have the same issue, so now I have the correct replacements.  Another service call?  Sheesh…this must be breaking our bank, right?  Nope…nadda, zippo, nothing charged to us at all…all paid for by my roadside assist program.  I’ve harped on it several times in this blog…if you do not have a roadside assist program, get one.

Enough of that.  We finally got on the road about noon, and our friends told us not to head south to Billings at Eddy’s Corner, where we normally turn to get there.  Apparently there is a lot of construction going on, so we kept heading east on 200, and took 87 South at Grass Range.  It was kind of nostalgic, as this was the area of the missile field that I worked in when we lived in Great Falls and we were stationed at Malmstrom.  87 took us into Billings, where we caught I-90 East.  We decided that we wanted to see the Little Big Horn Battlefield once again, so we found a park called the 7th Ranch RV Camp in Garryowen, MT which is about 70 miles East of Billings.  It was a really nice park, but there are gravel roads leading up to it, and the sites are all dirt…we’ve mentioned our tornado producing engine fan in the past.  Lets just say that I think we not only completely coated our Coach and the truck, but everyone other rig that was within 100 yards of us.  We got settled in and took some walks…oh yea…they have free ice cream at this park when you check in.  Nice touch.

Looking down at 7th ranch from the hiking trail they have that takes you up to a really neat flag pole.

The views in this part of the country continue to amaze and impress us, as they always have.

Tuesday we were up early and off to Little Big Horn.  I won’t go into all of the history of this place, as it is quite well known that this is where Custer got his butt kicked bad and lost a lot of men.  The Indians were ingenious in this battle protecting their way of life that was being taken from them…you see, in 1874 gold was found in the Black Hills, the heart of the new Indian reservation…this led to the U.S. violating the treaty of Fort Laramie.  Read the rest of the history if you don’t know it and definitely check this park out if you can…see more at http://www.nps.gov/libi

Welcome!

 

There is also a national cemetery on the grounds here. It is full, and not related to the Battle.

The marker at the top of the hill where most of the U.S. casualties are buried. They were relocated here after it was discovered the shallow graves of the fallen were being destroyed by wild animals.  There are other markers all over the park honoring the fallen, and a welcomed site is the addition of markers where Indian Warriors fell in the battle.

A memorial to the Indians was recently added to the park.

You can look back at the marker on top of the hill from the Indian memorial. It was constructed in such a way as to allow the spirits of the fallen to intertwine.

This is a real neat feature…you call the number and press the number of the stop that you are at, and you get a narrated history of what apparently happened at the location you are in.

The Ranger programs (talks) are fantastic.  The one we had for the explanation of the battle was awesome.  Kudos once again to the National Park Service.  After the park, we grabbed a bite to eat, then headed into Hardin, MT to check out the Big Horn County Historical Museum.  What a great find, and only $5 each with our military discount.  The museum takes you back in time as you stroll on the boardwalk that leads to the historic exhibits and structures that are part of the areas rich past.  They have a great display inside the building, but the structures that they have restored on site, as well as the ones they have moved here are awesome.  Everything from farm machinery, to a church, houses, work camps, railway station, soda fountain, barbershop, general store, service station, barns, blacksmith shop and on and on.  Well worth the time.  Check them out at http://www.bighorncountymuseum.org

A few of the restored buildings.

They have sheds full of operational tractors, trucks and cars from all eras.

Loving it!

OK…just one more!!

We crammed a lot into one day, so were bushed when we got home, as we were headed to Rapid City in the morning.  We had about 320 or so miles to go, so it was early to bed.  We got up and got everything ready to roll in short order, and were on the road by 0930.  The weather was perfect…was being the key word.  It had rained overnight, which cleaned things off a bit, and laid enough moisture that we didn’t create a tornado on the way out.  Once we got on the road, it started to rain.  You may remember a few posts back that when we were traveling from Maryhill State Park in WA to Portland, OR we ran into rain, and the driver’s side wiper would not work consistently.  After a lot of research, we thought maybe the wiring was not done correctly, as there had been a service notice on the issue quite a few years ago.  I had this checked out when we were in Oregon, and everything was wired correctly.  We could not get the situation to repeat itself, no matter how many times we ran the wipers (while standing still.)  Well, we hadn’t traveled in any rain since that day in May.  As soon as the rain started, I recalled that most people said the issue occurred when they were up to speed…for some reason the motor would not pull the driver’s side wiper back, which caused the driver and passenger wiper to stop.  Well, that is what happened to us.  If we were going over 25 miles per hour the thing stuck.  Under 25, nope, not on the interstate.  That is fine if you are traveling in town, but if it is a light rain and the speed limit is 80 MPH, it can be trouble.  We managed, and the rain eventually departed.  After we got to Ellsworth AFB, SD (near Rapid City) we replaced the blades and lubricated everything we could find that looked like it needed it.  Getting ahead of ourselves here, but we tested it yesterday under speed, and everything seems to be working correctly now.  We just need to add some rain at speed to see if this holds true!

While we were driving to the Rapid area, we were calling several parks, and everyone was full, or only had electric (30 AMP mostly) and the prices were outrageous.  As a final act of desperation, we called the base FamCamp again just to see if they may have something that opened up…I had called them several times over the past few days and they had nothing.  The young lady on the phone stated they had room in the park for two nights for full hookups at $21 per night, and we could then move to overflow with 30 AMP only for $10 per night…sold!!  Early to bed, as we were headed to Custer State Park in the morning.

A lot of the facilities in Custer State Park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30’s.  The park consists of over 71,000 acres of the most pristine land you will ever see.  The wildlife are abundant, and the views are breathtaking.  They have several campgrounds, interpretive centers, educational centers and on and on.  They also have a Playhouse, but more on that later.

Overlooking Custer State Park from its highest point.

Looking out toward the Needles Highway and Crazy Horse.

Needles Highway. What an awesome place! Watch your width and height though!!

This guy almost didn’t make it.

The eye of the needle!

Another shot of the needle.

This was the area that folks originally wanted Gutzon Borglum to carve historical western figures in the stone until he determined the stone was not strong enough, and came up with the idea for Mount Rushmore.  Thank goodness they didn’t destroy these magnificent creations.  They are majestic as they stand.

On our way back through the Needles Tunnel, these guys were there to great us. We couldn’t get a shot of the babies, as they shot over the edge just as we came out of the tunnel. The adults seemed much more used to us foreigners.

On our way into Rapid, Terri had mentioned that it would be nice to see a play or a musical again.  She was right, as it had been a long time since we had found anything we wanted to see.  Well, it just so happens that Custer State Park hosts the Black Hills Playhouse, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary.  On tap for the night was She Loves Me, which is the third adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart – Margaret Sullivan film The Shop Around the Corner and the 1949 Judy Garland – Van Johnson musical version In the Good Old Summertime.  This play surfaced once again in 1998 as the Tom Hanks – Meg Ryan feature, You’ve Got Mail.  What an awesome musical this was, and an even greater theater.  We had awesome seats in a near full house.  The lady we ordered the tickets from must have liked us!  Check out Custer State Park at http://www.custerstatepark.com and check the Playhouse out at http://www.blackhillsplayhouse.com

Front row, house left. Closer than front row center.

That’s me sitting down there next to some season ticket holders who have been coming here for years. If I moved my foot too far, it would have been on the stage. This play/musical was a blast.  We were early, so not a lot of folks in yet.  It did fill up almost to capacity.

The play ended about 10:30 PM, and Terri said she had read that if you take a curvy, winding road called 16A back to Rapid City, you would have the pleasure of going through 3 tunnels…in the dark…hairpin turns…wildlife!  OK…let’s go!  The added bonus she read stated that through one of the tunnels you would be able to see Mount Rushmore lit up at night…hmmm, sounds too good to be true.

The literature was correct! Here we are in the tunnel…that light at the other end is Rushmore.

Here is a better shot…Terri got out (in the tunnel) and took this shot in front of the truck. She scared both of us because as soon as she took the picture, the lights went dark at Rushmore! What did we do??? We looked at the time, and realized it was 1100 PM, when they normally shut the lights off…whewww!!!

Friday we were up and at it as we had to move to overflow.  Overflow is at the opposite end of the base, high on a hill overlooking the B-1 maintenance area and the flight line.  It is just a long slab of black top with 30 AMP electrical poles.  Guess what?  We had a blast up there.  The place was full almost every night, and because everyone was somewhat in the same boat, we were all out and about talking with each other each night.  It was a good time for sure.  After we got settled in, we headed to Mount Rushmore.  Check the place out at http://www.nps.gov/moru

The Grand Terrace View.

We were lucky enough to hook up with one of the Interpretive Ranger Talks on the Presidential Trail. What a great lesson and well told history of the whole project.

Some views from the Presidential Trail.

We had not been here since 1986, and it took our breath away once again.

Saturday was spent at garage sales, picking up a few items for the Coach and a few groceries.  We really seem to get a good feel for a town when we hit the garage sale circuit on Saturday mornings.  We had a nice evening, and said good-by to the new friends we had made, as we were headed out early on Sunday.  We headed down the road another 300+ miles and landed at a place called Camp America in Salem, SD which is about 36 miles West of Sioux Falls.  It is a really nice park, and great folks it too.  The guy that pulled in next to us last night is from WI, and told us to NOT take I-90 through Minnesota.  He said it was the worst he had ever seen, so when we leave tomorrow, we are taking the red roads to get to Fort McCoy FamCamp which is near Tomah, WI where our next scheduled stop is.  That being all taken care of, we hit the rack as we were headed to Sioux Falls in the morning to hit their bike trails.  Yelp and Trip Advisor had all kinds of good things to say about the parks and bike trails along the Big Sioux River and around the city…they were right!!

The trails are very well marked, and they have maps everywhere. It is over 20 miles to do the whole thing. We did about 2/3 of the trip, as it was in the 90’s and the wind out of the West was nasty. We had an awesome time though, and got some much needed exercise.

They have these really neat bike repair stations along the paths. My kickstand was loose, and I needed some air as well. Bike stand, tools, air…hey what else could you want??

The “Falls.”

That is all for now…off to Wisconsin, or at least Eastern MN tomorrow.  Our reservations don’t start at Fort McCoy until Wednesday, and we will be on Red Roads for about 360 miles, so we may take a break along the way.

As always, we hope this finds you Happy, Healthy and Living Your Dreams!!!

26 Jun-5 Jul; Man, We’ve Sure Missed Great Falls!

What an awesome time we have had these past 10 days!  We have trod over many of the areas we used to frequent when we lived here, and tried to reacquaint ourselves with the place we called home for 6.5 years.  We also were able to catch up with some dear friends…more accurately, “family” if you will.  It has been 16 years, but when it comes to close friends and family, it is almost as if we’d left here last week versus July of 1999.  I think our whole family felt a bit of remorse when we headed East toward Washington D.C. that July day 16 years ago.  There is a lot to say; however the pictures do much more justice to this Big Sky Country.  A couple of updates first:

Tech Tip Updates:

1.  The Stand Pipe issue.  Well…it has been over 90 degrees every day for most of the time we have been here (with the exception of today…a cold front blew in last night and it is in the 50’s right now.  Thank the Lord!) and we have had absolutely no odors from the gray tank, as well as no water in the wash machine.  We have done a few loads in it just to make sure.  We hope that little issue is now past us.  What a difference shortening that drain hose in the stand pipe has made.

2.  Gray tank odor in general.  We were not sure about the stand pipe causing the odor on its own…the gray tank has to have an odor, and not just in the stand pipe.  The hose being inserted as far as it was allowed the gray tank odor to escape into the Coach from time to time…how to get rid of the odor?  Well, I’m sure the experiment we did on the way here from Missoula helped out a lot, but I have been listening to one of Kathy and John’s Pod Casts on http://www.LivingTheRVDream.Com when they mentioned a new product for both your black and gray tank called Pure Power Blue (PPB):

Great Stuff!

They posted a link to a YouTube video the RV Doctor had done on this product.  It is Formaldehyde free, which is a requirement at many camp grounds now, and it is reported that this stuff not only breaks down waste and your normal single ply toilette paper, but will break down 2 ply as well!  We are not ready to try that yet, but so far we are really happy with this product.  We knew we would be in Great Falls for a while, so we were able to get some Amazon shopping done, and ordered a 12 pack of this stuff.  As a side note, Mandi, our daughter was able to get some mail to us as well…it has been a long time, and it took a long time to weed through everything.  Back to the issue…a few days after treating the gray tank, we had to dump most of it, as we’d done quite a bit of laundry, and the showers are usually longer when we have full hook ups.  When I drained the tank, there was no bad odor at all, and I noted a bunch of additional “gunk” come out of the gray tank.  In fact, the “odor” if you will, was quite pleasant…it smelled like the fragrant odor of the pouch when it went in.  I’ve mentioned before that I use a clear 5″ section from the Coach drain to my sewer hose, so I can see the clarity of the gray, as well as note how the black is draining and flushing.  This may be disconcerting to some, as we seem to discuss “Poo” a lot on this blog, but the truth of the matter is, you almost need to become a “Poo Master” in order to keep your systems up and running and clean in all environments.  There is nothing worse than driving down the road, or sitting still on a hot day and having odors emanating into your living area.  We have had none of that at all after the “cleanse” we did on the way here (see previous blog post) and using the Pure Power Blue.  We will be draining both tanks tomorrow before we hit the road, so I will have an update on how the black tank looked when it drained on our next post.  I believe the proof will be in how much comes out after I’ve emptied the tank and then flush it.  Ever since we’ve owned the Coach, there is a lot of extra “stuff” that comes out after the initial drain and I start the flush sequence of the black tank.  All in all, we are very pleased with the stand pipe correction and this new product.  One word of caution…if you want to try Pure Power Blue, make sure you switch to a non-formaldehyde product before you start using it.  Formaldehyde will kill the active bacteria in the product, and it costs more than other treatments do.  If you don’t ween yourself off of the other products first, you will have to use more of the PPB, which will cost you more.  We also are going to stop ordering the pouches and get the liquid.  If you use the liquid, you will get about double the treatments for the same price.  The pouches are very easy to use, but being fiscally responsible is part of this way of life for most of us.

Enough Poo talk!  Friday morning, we drove over to one of our great friend, Wayne’s place of business and spent a lot of time catching up with him.  What a great time!  Wayne was one of the catalysts in getting us involved in the retriever dog business here in Great Falls.  We worked hunt tests together, trained together, and he and his wife Marlene had the Stud we used for our dog Zoe when we bred her here.  Wayne was also the one that actually won the bid at a Ducks Unlimited Auction for me which I couldn’t attend at the time for pick of the litter which led us and our family to our beloved Zoe.  What an awesome memory of the times we experienced together over the years we were here!  Wayne and Marlene were also there for the birth of Zoes pups…more on that later.  In any case, it has been mentioned several times since we’ve been here, that it is like being back with family again…I’ll tell you it most certainly is!  We made plans to get together later in the week, and Terri and I headed off to explore.

Great Fall has a mountain range to its East called the Highwoods, and one to the Southeast called the Belts.  We decided to take a drive to the Highwoods.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see the cross at the top of the hill and the deer perched part way down.

You most certainly cannot beat the views in this part of the country.

Apparently, Canola has become quite a popular crop here of late. The skyscapes are priceless.

Sweat Peas are also “in vogue” here right now.

I hope this turns out on your computers. Never tried a panoramic photo on here before.

On Saturday, we did some more driving around the base, trying to remember where our house was (they have replaced all of the housing since we left) and we took a lot of pictures to send to the kids to show them how things have either remained the same or changed from a major part of their childhood.

We decided to head to Fort Benton to attend their Summer Celebration.  The arts and craft fair was really great, but it was the history and landscape that drew our attention.  We decided to leave before the street dance started so we could hopefully see some more awesome vistas.

Overlooking one of the falls of “Great Falls” on the way to Fort Benton.  Granted, this area looks nothing like when Lewis and Clark were here, but it is beautiful just the same. The Missouri river is still being used for energy as you can see.

After spending time in the heat at the celebration, we headed to the Grand Union Hotel in Ft Benton for Dinner.

From the brochure we received at the hotel and restaurant:  This is Montana’s oldest operating hotel and one if its most famous landmarks.  Upon opening in 1882, the Grand Union Hotel was reputed to be the finest hotel between Chicago and Seattle.  It was elegantly restored to its original splendor in 1999 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Check it out at http://www.grandunionhotel.com

The views out the dining room window of the riverbank from our table were awesome.

We took a stroll along the riverbank trail the city has so graciously provided. Trout were jumping all over, and several floaters and boaters were escaping the heat in the water.

While we were sitting on one of the numerous benches along the river, this big fella came to hang out. How do cats (especially Ferrel Cats) know I hate them?? It never fails that a cat will find me and have to rub all over me…don’t get me wrong cat lovers…knock yourself out.  It’s just not my bag…barn cats, yes. He was pretty kewl though. Don’t tell anyone that knows me that I said that.

The vistas of the Missouri River Valley climbing the hill out of Fort Benton were awesome.

I had been in touch with one of the folks I worked for when I was here who lives here now, and he provided us with a great recommendation for a church for Sunday.  Unfortunately, he and his wife were out of the area on vacation.  He and his family were our neighbors when we lived here.  The good news (besides the service, which was great) is that his daughter and her family were at church.  It was great seeing her again and meeting her husband and their great little young man!

Off to the rodeo!!  The Augusta Rodeo was on Sunday, and never ones to shy away from a rodeo, off we went.  The fortunate thing is that it was near one of the places we camped at a lot when we lived here, so we were on task to kill two birds with one stone.  This was the 79th Annual Agusta Rodeo.  It is one of the oldest rodeos in the state.

Due to the heat, the attendance was quite low, but we had a blast! It was one of the best rodeos we’ve seen to date, and the Kessler stock were awesome as always. Only one cowboy stayed on during the bull riding event, and he got hurt after he made his 8 seconds. These guys and gals are a special breed!  As always, God and Country were front and center…what a grand time.

The men’s room. Why not? It works well, and no need for expensive fixtures. If it wears out, you tack up another board or slab of aluminum.  Yes, it is at an angle, and the hole at the end, is, well, I guess the black tank would be the best explanation since this is an RV related blog.

 

It was hot here last Sunday, so the horses got some special attention.

After the Rodeo, we headed further into the mountains to one of our favorite camping spots in Sun Canyon.

So many memories here!!

We took along drive around the mountains and worked our way back to Great Falls.  We enjoyed the many ranches and the abundance of wildlife that we saw.  We arrived back at the FamCamp for a great sunset.

Looking out over Great Falls from our camp site.

Monday and Tuesday were some slow days for us.  We got chores done, and I made a trip to Scheels Sporting Goods store just to walk around and remember.  It rivals any Bass Pro or Cabelas in my humble opinion.  On Tuesday we took a drive over the Belts, stopped at the ski area we used to go to, hit Monarch, where one of our other favorite camping spots is no longer, hit Neihart, White Sulfur Springs, Townsend, Helena, Wolf Creek (great pork chop sandwich) and back to the Coach.  Sorry, we were so enamored with the landscape, we didn’t take any pictures.

On Wednesday, I caught up with a dear friend from our time here, Charles.  Charles lived right behind us on base and was a great friend to the family while we were here.  He’s one of the biggest hearted people I know.  He and his wife Carrie have a ranch just outside of town and we headed out to catch up.

Man, it is great to catch up with “family.”

The whole gang.

Terri hanging out with Uno…the Stud.

What an awesome ranch! Tons of horses, dogs and ducks too. If you want to blow your mind, just sit in their living room and overlook the valley below and the horses in the pasture. About as close to Heaven on Earth as you can get.

On Thursday we took care of some more chores at the house, and Terri was cooking and sewing and cleaning and all sorts of things, and in the afternoon I headed back out to Charles’ place.  The other neat thing was that his old crew partner from his time here, and a great and close friend of his, Heidi had arrived for a vacation.  It was great catching up, and Charles and Carrie overdid themselves on the meal once again.

Carrie, Charles and Heidi.

We were putzing around in Charles’ garage, and I was pleased to find that he actually has a piece of Wisconsin that he is getting ready to restore.

I got back to the Coach just in time for Terri to take this awesome shot of the sunset.

The 4th of July!!  Terri and I were headed to Wayne and Marlene’s for a cookout, and since Terri already had everything ready to go in the morning, we headed out to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center.  This was completed just before we left, and it is a must see if you are in the area.  Here are a few web sites for you to check them out:  http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/lcnf/learning number two: http://www.lewisandclarkfoundation.org and http://www.lewisandclark.org

A great display of the portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri. They have added many exhibits since we had been here.

After that, we had an order from Mandi to find the park with the slide that she enjoyed so much…a very specific request, huh??  Well, we found it.  Black Eagle Park, which had (and still has) a slide that is built into the hillside and is very long.  OK…time to head to Wayne and Marlene’s.  What a great time catching up with them and their family!  It has been way too long.  I’m sorry to say that I believe we were too overtaken by catching up that I didn’t get any photos.  They are all doing great, and we picked up just like it was yesterday!

Back to the beginning of the post about Zoe.  Well, Wayne presently owns Zoe and Dude (her studs) grandson!  The last pup we sold was called Herc (short for Hercules…the kids named the pups for the most part.)  His name was great because he was the largest male we had.  We had him until about 16 weeks, which is about 9 weeks longer than most folks would want a pup from a breeder.  In fact, I had started training him, and was fascinated with his abilities.  One day I was at a repair shop in town, and the guy that ran the place ended up buying Herc.  Long story short…Wayne now has the granddaughter, call name “Mojo.”  Man…a walk down memory lane for us.  Mojo has a lot of the characteristics of Zoe and Dude.

I sure do desperately miss working with dogs, but that’s not part of our life right now. Thankfully, we have many friends and family that allow us to be “make believe” dog owners now and then!

We were up early on Sunday after the 50MPH winds blew the cold front in.  We headed to First Alliance for church again, and had plans to meet Wayne and Marlene and their friend Carl (great guy by the way) at the MRD (Missouri River Diner…notorious here in Great Falls for their breakfast, and a must before or after a deer, duck or goose hunt) after church for breakfast.  Wayne had mentioned that one of our other “family” may be in town, and when we walked through the door, I was overjoyed to see Jamie and his family!  Jamie was another one of our greatest friends and an awesome hunting and dog training partner while we lived here.  He lives in Billings now, but had made the drive up yesterday from Billings to see family and us I guess!!!  What a great time that was…man I’ve missed that guy too, and in normal fashion, it was like it was only yesterday that we’d parted.  Yep, we are both a little older, maybe a little slower, and maybe a little grayer, but none the less, as it has been with everyone here, we picked right up where we had left off.

Well, enough talk…time to sign off.  We are headed off to see Charles one more time tonight, then we head East tomorrow.  We don’t know still which route we will take, but we will be sure to report when we get to where we are going.

As always, we hope this finds you Happy, Healthy, and Living your Dreams!!!