South Dakota to Idaho

Aug 26:  I left Montana today after driving through almost 200 miles of Christmas Trees!  It is beautiful country lots of mountains and trees.  There wasn't a straight stretch of road on the whole trip. Coeur d'Alene is right on the lake of the same name.  It is quite a sight to come down out of the mountains to find a large, 21 miles long, lake.  I don't have any pictures of the lake as the road was being worked on and I had my hands full driving.  I'll get some soon.  I got situated in the campground and Dene came over and picked me up.  We went to his house where I found Linda (Sam) and their daughter Cindy and her son.  Denes brother Herb was also there and lives in the area.  We checked out the plane Dene is building in his basement (where would you build a plane?) and had lunch and a short hike.  I'll get some pictures of his project and house if I get invited back?

Here are some pictures of the trip to Idaho.

Click Picture for more.

Aug 25:  I went in search of a fix for my TV antenna this morning.  It had worked out of the travel cradle and the crank from inside was stripped so I couldn't move it.  The service departments of both of the RV places were closed so off to the hardware store for a ladder.  As a last resort I'll climb up the trailer and fix it myself!  While hunting for the ladder I ran across the river that runs through Missoula and had to take a couple of pictures.  You can see the haze from the fires hanging in the air but, I had to try and show the mountains.  By the way I did manage to fix the TV antenna without causing any damage to the RV or myself!

Aug 24:  I rode around a little this morning and took a couple of pictures.  It was kind of hazy from the fires, not the best picture taking weather.

Aug 23:  This morning it was off to Missoula, another day of driving through Montana.  The weather sure changed since I got into the mountains, highs of 74 and lows of 43.  I had to get out the tee-shirts and jackets for the early mornings.  I even plugged in the electric heater and  blanket!  There are still people in the campgrounds in tents! Wonder if they have electric blankets?  I crossed the Continental Divide, again, near Boise and made my way through all of the traffic at the I-15 interchange.  It isn't Southern California.  The campground is real nice and they have a folk singer and free ice cream tomorrow night.  There is a helicopter pad across the street for a fire about 5 miles north of here.  It is under control and they are just mopping up.  The campground won't let me wash the trailer, and it needs it.  I plan on staying here until Sunday then off to Idaho and a visit with Dene and Linda Jones.

Click picture for more.

Aug 20:  I spent the morning on I-90 in the wind.  I slowed down when the wind was from the side and did ok.  Fighting the wind and going uphill I got my worst mileage ever 9.6 usually it's around 11.5.  I picked this route to avoid the fires around Yellowstone and it is working although I did see signs of recent fires.  I ran along the Yellowstone River for part of the trip and the Rockies are in sight.  It is still breezy this afternoon and the trailer is bouncing at times.  The last picture is the sunset from the campground in Garryowen last night.

Click picture for more.

After getting settled in I walked around the campground in Bozeman with the camera.  Every direction was another picture with the Rockies in the background.

Click picture for more.

Aug 17:  I left Wyoming this morning on my way to Garryowen Montana.  The landscape changed from grassland to scrub as I got closer to the Rockies.  I even passed an open pit coal mine.  There was a little light rain in Montana but I found the campground and checked in.  They gave me a free ice cream and a roll of toilet paper.  Maybe I looked like I needed both?  I had emailed this campground about space but never got an answer.  They saved me a space and told me that the Crow Indian Festival is taking place in town including the "Tepee Capital" of the world!  I'll check it out tomorrow.

Click picture for more.

Aug 16:  Here are a couple of pictures of the area around Sundance Wyoming.  Doesn't look like the paint salesman gets here very often!

Aug 15:  I joined up with Brian and Kerri Hamilton, PGR members from Claremore, and their friends Ted and Marilyn from Arkansas, for a trip to Devils Tower.  It was a pleasant 28 mile trip through the hills of Wyoming.  The tower is quite a sight and if you saw "Close Encounters" you will recognize this countries first National Monument.

But first why did the turkeys cross the road?  I don't know but they did.  Some scenes from the campground.

Click picture for more.

Aug 14:  I left Wasta for Wyoming this morning.  Passing through Sturgis was a big change from last week!  The campgrounds were empty, the streets were empty and it was so quiet!  I decided to take the scenic route along US 85 through Deadwood and the Black Hills National Park as it was only 40 miles longer and just 160 miles for the day.  Tomorrow I expect to join up with two PGR members that I met in Claremore and we will see the "Devils Tower".

Click picture for more.

Back to Trek 2007