Museum of the Rockies

This morning we were greatly surprised with sunshine and mild temperatures outside. The lady parked behind us had given me home grown tomatoes yesterday so Russ and I both had bacon and tomato sandwiches for breakfast. It was soooo good and we really enjoyed them. Thank you so much.

I had talked with a guy at the pool yesterday and he was telling me about the "Museum of the Rockies" over at the University of Montana. It really sounded interesting so I looked up some information on the internet and we decided to go and check it out. They were featuring "Out of this World", Extraordinary Costums of Film and Television; "Glow", Living Lights; Raymond Lowery; Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky; Enduring Peoples, Montana's American Indian Culture; and The 50th Anniversary of the Museum. It was very detailed and interesting. A must see if you are in the Bozeman area.



Today also they were having a "Farm Festival" to celebrate the harvest for the year. There were people dressed in the 1890 dress along with people showing their collection of rifles, those showing the Thrashing machine, doing apple mashing to make cider, baking bread over coals and making stew also. We watched border collies herd sheep in the field. There was also fresh vegetables being grown and the farmer was allowing children to come and harvest carrots from garden. It was a real treat to enjoy this type of day.



Late this afternoon it clouded up and we had thunder and lightning along with rain for a short period of time. The temperature fell drastically. Right now it is showing at 48 degrees.

Time to hit the sack so until the next time, Take Care.

God's Glory

Today started out with sunshine, then some clouds, then more clouds and very hard winds all of a sudden, then sunshine again and this evening the most awsome sunset that I have ever seen. The ski was the riches reds and golds that I have ever seen. It was just beautiful.

To see the pictures go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/pfradycate/SunsetsAtBearCanyonCampgroundBozemanMT

Yellowstone National Park

There are 156 pictures for viewing if you follow this address: http://picasaweb.google.com/pfradycate/Yellowstone

Thursday morning Russ and I were up early as we were very eager to head down to Yellowstone National Park. We took US Hwy 191 south for 89 miles to West Yellowstone, Mt. We stopped in at the Visitors Information Center and picked up maps and very useful information from the Ranger there. We then headed in the 14 miles to Madison. That's where we started touring the Lower Geyser Basin including Firehole Falls. It took us better than 3 hours to make it down to Old Faithful Geyser. We were intrigued by all that we saw.

We continued on around the lower loop seeing West Thumb, passing by the beautiful Yellowstone Lake, stopping for gas at Fishing Bridge, taking in the beauty of "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" with the Upper and Lower Falls. Just outstanding views and well worth seeing.

It was getting to be 6 pm and we still had a lot to see and do but just not enough time left in the day. We decided that we would return on Friday to see the Upper Loop and catch Norris Junction, Canyon Junction, Tower Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs. We traveled down US Hwy 89 from Livingston, Mt., to the North Entrance and made it as far as Tower Junction when we had to leave unexpectedly. We will make another trip some day to see the rest and revisit some that we have already seen.

We need to all support our National Parks.

Until later, Take Care.

Bear Canyon Campground

Wednesday morning we awoke at about 6:15 AM and decided that we would start getting ourselves ready to move on down the road. We heard the neighbors start up their rig about 7:15 so knew that we could continue with the outside chores without bothering anyone. We pulled out of Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park at 7:40 am headed for Bear Canyon Campground in Bozeman, Montana. According to Tom Tom, it was a 216 mile drive across I-90. It was a very cloudy day with us getting only spits of rain all the way. The road was very good and we had no delays. We stopped in Butte, Montana at the Flying J for diesel, propane (which we had not gotten since last March) and a late breakfast. We were able to get diesel for $4.169 lowest we have seen in a very long time. Propane was $2.999 which seems awful to me.

We arrived at Bear Canyon at about 12:30 pm and were assigned to space 27 on the back row but overlooking a beauiful area; fields, mountains and trees.






We have even seen deer out there grazing. We are very happy with the campground. It began to rain and was very cloudy and windy so the rest of the afternoon was spent inside just resting. We also checked out some of the brochures for Yellowstone NP as we want to visit there on Thursday.

Will do a posting on that next.

Take care.

Wind

Late yesterday afternoon the wind started to blow and it continually got worse as time passed. The slides on the west side of the motor home were just bouncing so I told Russ that I was putting in at least the living room one. We then went outside just to see what was happening around and saw that our neighbors topper was getting caught by the wind and going almost all the way across the top of their rig. They were not home so we found a rope and got it tossed across the top to hold the topper down. I made sure that I was watching for them to come home so that we could let them know what we had done. They were appreciative that we had taken the time to help them out.

We then saw the people on the end having problems with their topper. They had had a real problem last week with the winds putting a hole in it so we went down to help them save things. What happened this time was that he had forgotten to lock down the releases.

The winds did finally calm down to a minor roar after about an hour and a half of 45 mph gust. We did have rain during the night and it was cloudy most of today.

Just after dark last night we had new neighbors pull in. They have a 45' Provost pulling a 30' enclosed trailer with a Mercedes and two big motorcycles. They are a very nice couple from Alabama and they are traveling with another couple with the big Provost but a 22' trailer. Very nice rigs.




From Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park, Missoula, MT.


Today was spent getting laundry done and then we went out to dinner with the Leivas' to Outback. Very good dinner. We then went to the Sportsman's Warehouse where Russ picked out his birthday present. He has wanted a metal detector, so that is what I got him. It was then back to the RV and over to the office for a Huckleberry Ice Cream Cone. I then came home to watch the DNC and Hillary Clinton's speech.

Must get up from here now and get things ready to move tomorrow. Take care until the next time.

Snowbowl Ski Area

Today Russ and I started our day out by going back down to the Downtown Area of Missoula to the Farmer's Market. We found fresh tomatoes, green beans, carrots and lettuce. We did have a small ice chest in the car so were able to store our purchases in that.

We then traveled up Reserve Street to the Snowbowl Ski Area. During the summer they open the ski lift on the weekends and let people go up and hike, ride bicycles or play Frisbee Golf. The base height is 4,960 feet above sea level. At the top it is 7,000 feet and you can hike up to 7,950 feet at the very top. (We did not go that far.) The views were awsome and we did get a chance to see two guys playing golf and a number of people riding bikes down the ski slopes. It was really nice and a very in-expensive trip, Seniors went up for $4.50 and Adults cost $7.00.

Snowbowl Ski Area, Missoula, Mt

After that we stopped by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation & Elk Country Visitor Center. There the center features conservation and hunting heritage exhibits, wildlife displays including world-record elk. Very interesting and informative.

Of course there was food to be had so we stopped at the Mackenzie River Pizza Company. The pizza was excellent.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by a cat nap, watching the olympics and then the NASCAR race from Bristol, TN.

Until next time, Take Care.

"A Carousel for Missoula"

On Friday afternoon Russ and I went downtown to see the famous Carousel of Missoula. It is a beautiful art of work done with much love from Mr. Chuck Kaparich and the people of Missoula. Mr. Kaparich had said:

"If you will give it a home, and promise no onewill ever take it apart, I will build A Carousel for Missoula." That was the promise Missoula cabinet-maker Chuck Kaparich made to the Missoula City Council in 1991. Kaparich, who had spent many childhood hours on the carousel at Columbia Gardens in Butte, Montana, had already carved four carousel poinies and purchased an antique frame in thousands of pieces. When the carousel opened in 1995 over 100,000 hours of volunteer time had gone into the construction of more than 40 ponies, two chariots, 14 gargoyles, gargoyle frames and mirror frames and the largest band organ in continuous use in the United States, all within a jewel-box building.

Also downtown they were having an Indian Heritage day with mucic, information and just a good time had by all.

Later in the afternoon, we met bloggers, Ron and Elena Engelsman for dinner at Cracker Barrel. I have been reading their blog (Ron & Elena's Odyssey done on Hitchitch) from the start of their beginning as full timers. Both Ron and Elena write to the blog and they are doing something different and interesting every day.
We will continue to follow their travels and also go to some of the areas in which they have already been. Thanks Ron and Elena.

When we arrived back at Yogi Bear Jellysone, it was time for the ice cream social. I walked over but just could not eat any as I was still full from dinner. It was just fun to visit for a while. After that Nancy and I decided to go swimming as they said that the pool was heated to 86 degrees. Someone cannot read a thermometer because it was oh so cold. We did swim for about 30 minutes and then just had to get out and get warm.

It was then time to just relax and enjoy the rest of the night.

Until the next time, please take care.

"SmokeJumpers"

Today as yesterday, we had periods of rain for most of the morning. Russ and I had a nice breakfast and watched some TV while waiting for it to clear. Our mail was also delivered to us so I went through that finding only a couple of things that need real attention.

We then decided to take a ride finding the "SmokeJumpers" School. We stopped in for a great tour given by Kelsey, a junior at University of Montana. She was very informative and we all got a better understanding of what the courages firefighters do and what they go through. If you are in the Missoula area, this is a must see.

Heading for Missoula, Montana

This morning both Russ and I were awake at just after 5 am, ready to hit the road and see some more new, beautiful country. We have never been up in the Northwest part of the United States; but, since getting here, we are really enjoying it and the scenery is spectacular.

The past seven weeks have been spent in different parts of Washington State and it has been a wonderful experience. We did not know how diverse the state was until we started exploring. WOW!!! Thank you Washington for teaching us about your beautiful state.

We left Old American Kampground at about 7:30 am heading East on ID-2 and then futher East on ID and MT-200. We followed Lake Pend Oreille through Idaho and then the Bull River in Montana. The hills rising above each were spectacular even with the rain that began during the night. According to the maps, we traveled along the "Bitterroot Range."



We arrived at Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park in Missoula, Montan about 1:30 pm Mountain Time. We got set up and off to lunch we went. Both of us were hungry so we went to "Famous Daves, as we ate very little for breakfast. We enjoyed our meals and decided with the rain we would just come back to our little house and veg for the rest of the day.

Pio Pico

These pictures were sent to me by Sharon Whitaker of the tree that fell last week beside their campsite at Pio Pico. It did some damage to the cabin there.

The Sights are Awsome

The past couple of days we have done a lot of driving and seeing some of the most outstanding scenery that we have ever seen. The weather has been great with temperatures at night down as low as 48 and as high during the day as the mid 80's. Just right for getting out and touring around.



On Monday the Leivas went with us up to the Albeni Falls Dam for a tour. Taylor, the young tour guide, was very knowledgeable and really enjoyed his job and it showed. He took us all around describing the works of the dam and how the people around the area were enriched by the workings of the dam. We spent about 1 1/2 hours touring and learning much about how dams work producing electrical power.

After leaving the Dam we went to the Village Diner for lunch. It was only okay.

We then drove up to Priest Lake along Hwy 57 from Hwy 2. (We had tried to find it on Saturday but did not find anything that people had been saying was so great. What the problem was we did not go far enough.) We did find the beautiful lake and are glad that we did persist in finding it. There was an information center, but was closed. We looked around outside and then walked down to the beach. OH, WOW!!! The view was gorgeous and the water was so clear. We then drove on down the gravel road looking for the public boat ramp. We found it and boy were there a lot of boats and people there. After looking around for a while, we headed back down to Priest River. It was then back to the campground and rest for the remainder of the afternoon.


On Tuesday morning, Russ and I got up and went down to Coeur d'Alene. What a wonderful little town and the beauty all around it to die for. We first went to see the floating boardwalk that passes in front of the Coeur d'Alene Hotel. We walked the full length just awed by the sights, water and beauty. We then walked up into town and then over to The Shoppes just to see what was there.



We then headed to Hwy 95 and went south toward Plummer. Just before Plummer, we saw the Coeur d'Alene Casino and of course we had to make a stop. We went in and got more "Players Club Cards" and they gave us each $10 to play on. Well, as usual, I lost my $10 plus $20 but Russ saved me by winning a jackpot for $32+. It was time to continue on our ride. We went down to Hwy 5 and headed east to St. Maries. It was then to head north on Hwy 3 up to Hwy 97. It was a total of 38 miles but took close to 2 hours to complete because of the winding roads and slow speeds through the little towns. All in all it was a great adventure and very pretty.

Old American Kampground

Posting from Old American Kampground in Newport, Washington

We left Moses Lake on Wednesday morning 8/6/08 at about 8:30 AM heading east on I-90. Our tire sensor began showing that we had low air in the rear driver side tire on the Honda. We were near a rest area so pulled in there and Russ checked all the tires. He decided that he needed to move the monitor and that helped.

As we were preparing to leave the rest area, I told him that I would drive until we reached the next one. That was about 50 miles, so I am slowing getting back into practice.

We got into Spokane and stopped for fuel at the Petro Center. If you used your ATM card the $4.799 a gallon. If you used credit, it was $4.869. Had to do the cheaper one this time. From the center we continued on I-90 until we reached Hwy-2 and headed north-east to Newport, Washington. It is right on the Washington/Idaho border and very pretty up here. The temperature was a bit warm (98 degrees) but will only be lasting for a couple of days. After getting set up and letting it cool down a little, we took a ride up Hwy-2 into Idaho a little further and the scenery was magnificent.

Today we took a ride down to the Thousand Trails Park at Diamond Lake. It is a very nice park, spread out and some of the sites are very small but will do. The only other thing is that they do not have sewer at the sites. As we were coming back, we saw a SKP sign. We turned around and drove in to find out what it was. What we found was an SKP couple and they were setting up to have a garage sale and they are also trying to sell their property there. They had let people camp there when passing through. They showed us a lot of their wares that they will be selling this weekend.

We left there and headed back to the campground stopping at Safeway for a few groceries. After having dinner we went for a walk around the grounds and down to the river just to see what was there. I did make a couple of phone calls and now it is time to call it a night.

Time to Move

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, we arrived at Thousand Trails/Leisure Time Crescent Bar resort near Quincy, Washington. The time spent there was an adventure in itself. The second night we were there, we had to evacuate because of the threat of a fire coming across the hillside. That turned out okay as the firefighters did a great job of containing the fire even with the great winds that were blowing that night.

There was a small grocery in Quincy and only a couple of restaurants so if we wanted anything or just wanted to get out and see what was around, we had to drive at least 30 miles east or west and don't look for any restaurants to be open on Sunday. The river was great if you owned a boat or a jetski. The sunsets were also pretty at different times.

This past Saturday night, there was another fire up on Hwy 28 which burned some of the main electric poles along with telephone lines. We were not evacuated this time; but, were without electric and water all day Sunday. The pool also had to be closed even after the electric was restored as there was no telephone coverage still. It is a Washington law that there must be a working telephone near the pool in case of an emergency. Cell coverage was hit and miss so it did not count for the phone. Would we go back, yes, but for only a few days at a time.

Today, we moved over to Moses Lake, which is about 30 miles from Quincy, Wa. We are staying at an ROD park called Sunrise Resorts, Pier Four right off of I-90. We are parked over by the boat ramp under some trees which was great today as the temp went up to 91. We made a trip over to Wal-Mart and picked up a few items, got the car washed as it was really dirty and stopped in a Golden Corral for a late lunch.

We took our chairs over by the river. We sat out watching 4 little girls play on a blow up raft that they had in the water, water skiers all over the place, jetskies and a guy with a wind sail trying to find the wind that never came up. There was a nice breeze blowing and it was wonderful. I also talked to my sister. That was great also.

Tonight is reality shows for me on TV and Russ has a baseball game on. What more could anyone ask for.

To all Take Care until next time.