Visiting with Pam and Ben

I'm a little behind here, so am doing some "ketchup" work as Roger would call it.

We have been pretty busy - visiting with friends in Denver and then with our daughter and son-in-law in Colorado Springs. Both days of travel (Wed and Thurs) were easy short days.  We avoided the interstate as much as possible and took US routes to stay away from traffic and road work in the Denver area.  It worked well and added only a little time to the drive.  

We are at the U.S. Air Force Academy FamCamp just outside of Colorado Springs.  The campground is big, has some weird sites (one of which we have) but is very well maintained - something the Air Force does best of all the services.  It sits in pine trees at the foot of a mountain right at the edge of the academy grounds.  We  have great WIFI!!!  It's hotter than we expected at 7,000 feet, but we are having cloud cover so the sun isn't baking us too much.   Our biggest issue with the place is that it is near some train tracks and they run all night long.  Of course there is a crossing not far from here so we get the horns blasting as well as the sound of the train.  I don't notice them so much during the day, but, wow, are they noisy at night. In addition to the trains, this RV park has mountain lions and bears.  We've been warned to not leave pets outside unattended as the aforementioned predators will make quick snacks out of our pet. 

Maggie decided to eat a pine cone yesterday.  We were up cleaning the remains off of our carpet all night! That's how we knew it was a pine cone. Unfortunately, Maggie needed to go outside to continue to relieve herself at 3:15 A.M.   Rog took her out and was nervous as hell he was going to come face-to-face with lion who would make him a main course meal and Maggie the dessert.  Needless to say, it took him quite a while to go back to sleep once he and the dog got safely back inside.

Pam and Ben are due over in about an hour for the evening. They are well - Pam is loving her new job at Colorado College in the library.  We get a tour on Sunday!   Tomorrow the Air Force is having a home football game and access to the FamCamp is restricted (we will have to figure out what we are going to do). They must get some big crowds for their football games.  We drove past the stadium this morning and they were setting up the parking areas in several large fields.  

We will be here until Tuesday.  We haven't yet decided where we are going from here.  Watch this space..........

Glad not to be lion food!!!

A Trip Into Town

Mary Ann taking a picture for the journal.

We spent several hours in Cheyenne, WY today playing tourist.  Most of the time was on a history tour on their "trolley."   It was 90 minutes long and should have been no more than 60!  Rog said he lost interest after 20 minutes.  The tour guide talked lots about local history involving local celebrities and spent a lot of time talking about Cheyenne Frontier Days, so our interest waned as the ride went on.  We did see some lovely old homes, the capital building, the old governor's mansion, museums and, of course, the rodeo grounds which were enormous!  It was 90 degrees and the bus had no A/C.  The tour guide handed us hand fans as we got on!  That's probably another reason it was way too long and a bit uncomfortable, but for $10 we learned some Wyoming and Cheyenne history.

This sculpture is in honor of the fact that Wyoming was the first to give women the vote many years before universal suffrage in the United States.  There were several sculptures of women around town celebrating the pioneer spirit and the important contributions made by women during the settling of the Western Frontier.

This boot is one of about 200 painted by various artists and groups (one was by middle schoolers) and are spread throughout the city. They have some interesting motifs. One has all the names of the governors.  Another, examples of license plates through the years. This one has the elusive (to us) pronghorn on the front and a big trout on the back.

I took this photo because the window was just so pretty.  It was on a building built in Cheyenne's early days that now houses a western museum.

We had a nice lunch in a small "health food" type place.  We asked the city information receptionist where we bought the tickets for the tour where we could find a good restaurant.  When we told her we were vegetarians she just shook her head.  Cheyenne is not a town that you will find a vegetarian restaurant or non-meat meals on the menus.  Cattle country, I guess!!  She was kind enough to direct us to where we were able to get a vegetarian lunch and then said "if we wanted a good vegetarian meal, we should go to Laramie!!!"

My theory about the dog and leaving her on non-travel days? Well, she debunked that theory today!  She managed to get her paws between the edge of the screen protector and the screen and tore a hole in the "pet" screen.  It now has duct tape covering the hole until we can find a way to cover the opening between the screen and the grate that's a little more classy than duct tape. This is becoming a source of frustration for Rog.

Tomorrow we are due in Aurora, CO, which is a suburb southeast of Denver.  We will be having dinner with an old friend and we are looking forward to it.  We haven't seen him in two years (since the last time we came through visiting our daughter).   

An Extremely Windy Day

The wind came up about 3am and the tree beside our RV on the bed side decided to disturb our sleep.  The branches were beating on the slide-out right over our head. At first we thought it was hard rain but it was only wind.  We were pokey this morning getting ready to go in hopes the wind would die down, but nope, it continued to blow like a Nor'easter.  So, do we stay or get on the road?  We decided to move on and hoped the wind would dissipate.  We had a tail wind for about an hour, but then a cross wind most of the rest of the afternoon.  About 20 miles north of Cheyenne (our destination) it abruptly stopped.  It was a hard day for Roger battling to keep the RV on the road (although he says he had experienced worse times) and I was dosed with the dog's dramamine!  Maggie was dosed with Valium so she didn't care!

No photos again today :-(   I really like using them, but we saw nothing to take a picture of.  It's so disappointing.  Although the scenery was greener than the yesterday's leg, it was just rolling hills for as far as you could see.  Some ranches, lots of cattle and horses, but yet again, no wild life.  

I have news for our fellow "Longmire" fans - there is no Absaroka County in Wyoming.  Nor, is there a Durant.  But, there is an Absaroka Wilderness area at the border of Montana and Wyoming and there is a town called Absarokee which is on the Crow reservation.  

We are in Cheyenne for two nights.  Tomorrow we are going to go into town, have some lunch, and do some sightseeing.  From the brochures it looks like it has potential for some fun.   I hope to have something to write about tomorrow as well as some photos.   

Does Casper WY Sit In Some Sort of Electronic Force Field?

Today has been a very strange day with our electronic devices. Batteries all of a sudden gone down to zero, my MacBook is doing funky things, and the electronic awning has decided to be stuck in the closed position (thank goodness it's not the extended position).  I did a diagnostic on the computer and it says my hard drive has corrupted files - this after it took 8 minutes to boot up and told me it was a "safe boot."  I've never seen that before.  Roger's phone works, then it doesn't, then it does again.  The only thing that seems to be normal is my iPhone and I don't want to jinx that by saying anything about it too loudly!  Maybe we are too close to Devil's Tower where the aliens landed in the movie "Close Encounters."  Maybe it wasn't fiction.  

Regarding the awning:  For those of you who aren't familiar with an RV and are thinking they must have bought a piece of junk since Roger is always fixing something.  Well, remember, as we go down the highway, the jostling and jiggling of the rig over the potholes, cattle guards, train tracks, and other assorted bumps in the road, is like a thousand little earthquakes happening each mile. Things get rattled loose.  Actually it's amazing that there aren't more issues to deal with each night than what we are seeing on this new rig.

Had lunch out then we restocked the fridge and pantry after finding the grocery store way the heck on the other side of town. This afternoon we did some more laundry while we relaxed. There was a couple in the laundry room from Reno. She was wearing her WolfPack shirt!!   Cloudy and windy today in the low-80s. 

I am now testing a theory on the dog's actions when we leave her alone in the RV.  It seems that if we go out on the same day as we drive (such as to get fuel) she has major separation anxiety. and misbehaves.  When we leave her like we did today  after being her one night, she is happy to see us when we get home, goes a bit crazy with her greeting,  but nothing is destroyed in the rig.  I'm going to start paying more attention to that.  If that's the case Roger is going to have to go get fuel all by himself :-)

Tomorrow we go south on I-25 to Cheyenne, WY.  We have two nights there and I really hope to do some sightseeing.  From what I can tell there are touristy things to do there.  So far we really aren't too impressed with central Wyoming, but maybe since it's the capital there will be fun things to do.

We Saw An Antelope Today!

Yes, you read that title right!  An antelope.  One.  Uno.  This despite the signs along the highway that clearly warned you about antelope.  In past trips through Wyoming we have always seen herds of pronghorns along the highway, so we are surprised and curious about why we aren't seeing any.  Oh, well. One is better than none.

We started late today as we had a short distance of 110 miles to go and couldn't get there before noon.  It was a short, but long boring drive up and down through central Wyoming grasslands with only the mountains to see which were in the distance and some mesas with some funky shaped stone outcroppings closer to the highway. The sage greens and browns became monochromatic as the trip progressed, but along the highway shoulder Black-eyed Susans abounded giving the only color to the landscape. They were very welcome!  We traveled under cloudy skies and the wind kept changing from a tail wind to a side wind and, then as we approached Casper, a head wind. There was little to no traffic on I-25 which was nice.  No truck traffic which is not normal and I imagine we will pick it up once we hit Cheyenne on Monday because it connects to I-80.  So, I have no photos today, which I always like to include in case the prose is boring maybe the photos won't be :-) 

Casper, WY.  As far as I can tell there isn't a whole lot to do here but historically it is important.  It sits on the Platte River and is on what was the California-Oregon Trail as well as the Pony Express route and the Mormon migration route.  If you are a hunter, fisher person, or major outdoors person (hiking, mountain climbing, etc.) Montana and Wyoming are the place to be.  For us old folk that don't do any of that it leaves only historical sites to visit and most have to do with exploration and the battles with the Native Americans (notably the Crow, Cheyenne and Blackfeet nations.) 

We are in another KOA (not many choices) tonight and it is on an open, flat plain north of Casper.  Sparse trees and gravel sites and near hurricane force winds which are, apparently, fairly common in this area.  OK, we can take this place off our list of places to live!! 

Tomorrow is restock day for the fridge with produce and rest for Roger.  Then we continue south to Cheyenne where we will spend two nights.  Maybe we will find something fun to do there. 

Glad we aren't at home!

We've been watching the news about the fires and smoke and glad we aren't there.  We did experience some smoke in Missoula from the Lolo Fire there.  Hope everyone at home is staying inside and isn't getting sick from the smoke.  

Cactus Spines Smart!!!

Our route today was from Big Timber, MT along I-90, south to Buffalo, WY.  We followed the Yellowstone River for a while then we came to the Big Horn River.  Most of the day we were in Crow Country (as the signs stated).  We had the Big Horn Mountains to the west of us as we drove up and down over the hills of southern Montana and northern Wyoming.  We passed the Little Big Horn Battlefield but didn't stop - we've been there before.  It was on a Memorial Day and it was quite sad, so we have no desire to return.  Wheat fields turned to cornfields, we saw petroleum refineries, lots and lots of ranches with horses and cattle.  We did see two eagles perched on a nest atop some power poles.  White heads on them made us think maybe they were bald eagles.  The only other four-legged wild creature we saw was a road kill deer :-(

At our lunch time rest stop I took Maggie out to the "pet area" which is scrub grass, stickers, etc.  Well, she managed to get through it fine, but I came out with a hunk of cactus about the size of a small plum stuck to the inside of my right leg above the ankle and below my pant leg.  Ouch!  Roger had to get his leather work gloves to be able to grab it and pull it out.  I then had to take the tweezers and pull out a couple spines that got stuck.  The rest of the day I REALLY watched where I was walking!

The last few days have been cooler - low 80s - but as we drove south today the temperatures rose!  Low 90s here in Buffalo when we arrived.  It's much cooler now as a massive thunderstorm just passed through and cooled us off.  

Last night we stayed in a private campground with no real amenities - although we did have a good wifi signal.  It was dark and quiet and we slept pretty well.  Tonight we are in a KOA where we have good cell signal but lousy wifi. What a difference in atmosphere, too.  Thank goodness for the sudden storm - it sent the group of cowboys and cowgirls that were partying next to us inside! The space between the RVs is small enough that they were sitting up next to our rig to keep out of the sun.  We did have the air conditioner running which fortunately drowned out the voices.   

Last Night's Campsite

Last Night's River 

Tonight's Campsite

Tonight's Creek

Tomorrow we have a short drive south to Casper, WY on I-25 where we will sit for two nights and hopefully have a day to explore the area and rest from the driving. 

Maggs did good today - a little glassy eyed, though!   

Missle Silos, Lots of Wheat, Feed Lots, and Still No Wildlife

We left Great Falls this morning and headed east on US87, then turned south at US191 at Eddie's Corner and ended up tonight in Big Timber, MT.  It was a day of two lane roads with construction but not a whole lot of traffic. Still, those drives really tire Roger.   We are in a campground next to a river about 5 miles outside of town.  It's quiet and comfortable and a surprising find in this rural area. They put us in a big site all by ourselves and we have grass and trees and no one near us.  We are in a little coulee next to the river so we have no cell service, but we do have internet!  Amazing.

We found a great pizza place in town when we went looking for fuel and had one of the best pizzas we have encountered in a very long time! 

We came home to find that Maggie had jumped up in one of the chairs that sits too near the table that has our big lamp.  Well, light bulb and lamp were in pieces.  It really wasn't her fault. There just isn't enough space for the two recliners and a table with a lamp and we have been fighting it since we got this RV.  It is about the only thing we don't like about the new one.  The chairs are too big for the space.  We like a table for a lamp and to put our drinks on.  We don't like using the installed overhead lights.  So, we need to work on another solution.  Rog is now talking about building a table to the size limitations when we get home but for now we have to figure something else out.  In addition to the broken lamp we have discovered that she did try to get out the screen door - the new guard worked but now the paint is scratched.  Better that than having to re-screen.  Tonight she is wound up.  Wants to play ball and won't give up. She keeps bringing it to us even though we have already spent at least an hour tossing it for her.  Rog says it's 'cause her meds have worn off! 

The half dose of meds worked well today!  We gave it to Maggie about half an hour before we left this morning.  She still was a little shakey but there was no heaving breathing and panting. She faced backwards most of the day but she wasn't sitting up. Her eyelids were heavy and she wasn't constantly changing positions. It was a much more comfortable ride for all of us.

We crossed mostly grasslands again today but we did notice that "hidden" in many of the fields were fenced areas with lots of antenna.   Hmmm....secret missile silos? We know they built lots of them during the cold war in the west.  I guess they are still using them.   Still no wildlife sightings.  Cows, horses, and sheep, but nary an antelope, elk, or deer.  Pretty disappointing. 

Above I mentioned the junction at Eddie's Corner, MT.  It's a truck stop and convenience store and we figured it would be a good place to pull off and eat.  We also figured it would be a parking lot kind of picnic again.  Much to our delight and surprise the management has built a park setting back behind the store and gas pumps.  It was very nice. It is roped off from the parking area, has fairly large with trees, grass, and picnic tables.  It was nicer than most roadside rests.  

We will be leaving Montana tomorrow and going to Buffalo, WY for the night.  I bought a jar of huckleberry jam tonight to take with me.  We really like this state.  It's just too bad it has such brutal winters and is so far from San Diego and every place else!    

Last Night's Entry

I am going to try and import my notes from last night.  Hope it works!  OK - it won't upload PDF files.  So, here goes an attempt at copying and pasting.    Yes!  It worked!  

Two Days of Journal Catch-up!    Of course, Roger says, “You’re putting ketchup on your journal?” (He has an appointment with VA when we get back for new hearing aids!)   He’s busy right now putting a handle on the screen door for me so I won’t pull out the plastic slider thingy again!  I’ll keep going with the ketchup!  

Wednesday - As indicated already, we are having to face the reality that we can’t be connected whenever we want to be.  It’s the pits, but, we are going to have to learn to live with it.  I am going to write the entry and then tomorrow MAYBE we will get lucky and have a good connection? What a surprise that would be!!!  

We ended up going on base to the library to use the WIFI so that we could search for campgrounds and make reservations for the next few days.  It’s coming up on a weekend and the end of summer and campgrounds are full.  We thought it prudent to have places to stay all lined up between here and Denver.  A few places we tried but they were booked, so I’m glad we are pretty much set now until we leave Colorado Springs on Tuesday after Labor Day. 

OK, we left Missoula on Tuesday feeling pretty rested and ready for our next adventure.  We tried giving the dog a quarter of the tablet of the meds about half an hour before we left.  It helped take the edge off a little, but after we were on the road about an hour we gave her another quarter.  It took a while, but she did finally calm down, face the front for part of the way, and once I caught her dozing off.  Tomorrow we will give her half a tablet to start.  

Yesterday, Tuesday, we traveled northeast to Great Falls, MT and parked the rig at a small Air Force FamCamp.  Very nice place except for the lack of WIFI.  It’s advertised that they have it, there is a pole one site down from us with an antenna, and all of our devices find the signal.  It just doesn’t log on to the internet. We did meet some folks from Illinois in our search for answers who also had the same issues. I went down to the camp host and asked what I was doing wrong because I couldn’t get it to work.  His reply, “You’re right, it doesn’t work.  They pay some rinky dink company for it and the antenna is too short so it never works.”  So, why didn’t he tell us when we checked in instead of letting us spend an hour messing about?  Makes me crazy!!  

I’m having trouble coming up with descriptive terms for the scenery on the way here. Gorgeous?  Spectacular?  Awesome?  I just can’t find the right words. This is the most of Montana that we have visited and we are liking it.  We crossed mountains, and drove through valleys with beautiful ranches and farms all the way to Helena, the state capitol.  I fell in love with that town!  I could live there if they had less winter.   Actually, a LOT less winter!  It is a beautiful town set in a fertile valley and it won my heart.  Probably the prettiest place we’ve seen in this state.  We then moved on to high desert sagebrush, and then the open plains as we entered Great Falls.  Now, this is a town I wouldn’t want to live in.  There’s a refinery, lots of industry, and just not very pretty.  Driving down the streets is like going down the streets in a midwestern town.  The houses reminded us of Detroit area homes - small, brick, garage on the side in the back.  Nope, don’t want to live here.   Oh, yes, the other thing we like about Montana is that there is no sales tax.  It’s great paying exactly what the price tag says.  

This is the first Air Force base we have ever stayed where there are no airplanes!  Imagine that.  There is a National Guard unit with 4 helicopters, but no airplanes.  “What’s up with that?” we asked the folks from Illinois whose son is stationed here.  Missile defense.  It’s all underground and electronic stuff.  It is weird and it is quiet although they sound reveille in the morning, colors (when they lower the flags for the day) at 4:30pm and then at 11pm they play taps over the base loud speakers.  

We tried to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center located on the Missouri River (and the reason we came here) but I left our senior national parks pass in the RV.  This, is the one I just bought last week in my name at the Bison Range because we left the one we bought years ago under Roger’s name at home!  I am so on top of things!!  So, we walked around outside for a while reading the plaques and signs and admiring the river.  We did go into the gift shop where we bought a print by a Native American artist  that we like (we already have one of his that we bought in Yellowstone years ago).  The river was calm and had water birds floating and wading in the shallows.  We saw where the Corps of Discovery had camped on their trek westward.  There was a mile long hiking trail along the river but Roger’s been having sciatica issues the last few days so we had to bypass that.  We had planned on going to the Charles Remington Art Museum but by that time Rog was hurting too much.   We didn’t accomplish our goals here, but we are glad we made the trip.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we will start the trip south towards Colorado Springs. 

Out of sequence

I realized as I posted that short note that last night's entry was still in draft form because of problems.  So I told it to publish and it came in out of sequence.  Sorry.   

No WIFI tonight.

I'm using my phone signal for this entry. I'm going to write my entry in another program and tomorrow visit the base library and copy and paste into the journal.    We are at Malmstrom AFB outside of Great Falls, MT for two nights. Sightseeing tomorrow and then head south on Thursday. All's well.  

Rog and I both feel much better today and Maggie has some Valium!

(I'm having some issues with WIFI tonight.  It keeps coming and going and I keep having to rewrite.  Aargh!!!  I hope this time is the charm as I would like to finish and load some photos. I'm having a really terrible time with it tonight!)

A pretty good night's sleep and cooler temps have worked wonders for us and we are ready to move on tomorrow.  We are headed to Great Falls and some Lewis and Clark museums, some wildlife refuges (like we are going to see anything), the Missouri Breaks and whatever else we find.  We hope to stay at an Air Force FamCamp for a couple days to help offset the cost of staying here and extra day.   

We tried to find a vet this morning that would see us today but no luck. They wouldn't prescribe anything without seeing her and the earliest appointment was on Wednesday.   I called our vet again and he called in a prescription of generic Valium to the Walgreen's a few blocks away.  It was comical seeing the prescription name:   Maggie Dog Keith. Reminded me of a wrestler's name.  So tomorrow we will see what happens when we start the engine!  Rog keeps telling her she is going on a "happy trip" tomorrow.   

Measure, measure, measure. 

I managed to break the bottom plastic piece off the door this morning, so Roger had to fix that and then install the metal grate over the screen.  It only took one more trip to Lowe's for a hacksaw blade. But, now we have a pretty secure door that hopefully neither Maggs nor I can destroy.   Fortunately that was all the work he had to do today and he is rested and ready to Drive Miss Mary Ann and Miss Maggie to the next adventure.  

OK, I give up - this isn't working tonight.  I've started over 3 times and I can't load photos.   Hopefully, tomorrow I can finish (if I remember what I was going to say) and add the photos I intended to use tonight.

Sticking Around For Another Day

We decided to stay here in Missoula for another day.  Two reasons:  1) We want to try and find a vet tomorrow and get Miss Maggie some anti-anxiety meds before we get on the road.  2) Neither Roger nor I feel tip top.  We are pretty exhausted, actually.  A combination of still not sleeping well and the heat.  We don't want to be on the road with the rig unless we feel good.  So, hopefully, another day of real rest will take care of that problem.  

Today was laundry and shopping - we hit the regulars: Target, grocery, Lowe's, and Costco.  "Lowe's?" you ask.  Yep, bought a screen protector for the door.  (She hasn't harmed it since the re-screen, but you never know. We will be prepared for the next time.)

Maggie and I had a bit of a rude awakening at 3am night before last!    She woke me up and wouldn't give up so I figured she needed to go out.  Now, she's not had this issue in the middle of the night since the first month we had her, so it was kinda weird that she wouldn't go back to bed.  I put on a sweatshirt, my sandals, grabbed a flashlight and her lead and opened the door.  We got down to the bottom of the steps and got blasted with a sprinkler!  Both of us got totally soaked!  It was a bit of a shocker.  So, last night, she did the same thing at about 3am.  I ended up going in the living room with her and she crawled up on the couch with me.  Seems that is the time they turn on the sprinklers and she hears it hitting the side of the RV and it spooks her!  If I had figured that out the first night, I wouldn't have had to go hunting for new PJ bottoms in the middle of the night!

So, tomorrow, the vet and rest.  

We Went On A Wild Buffalo Chase.......

 We drove 60 miles north to the National Bison Range south of Flathead Lake and this is the only buffalo we saw: 

It wasn't a wasted day, though, as we had a picnic in a lovely day use area under some trees along a creek, we saw some very wonderful scenery and just enjoyed the outing.  It was a lovely day!

Lots of horse ranches in the area.

An animal bridge across the highway for migrating herds of deer, elk, antelope, etc.  None of which we saw!

We were on the Flathead Reservation for most of the day.  There are four or five tribes within the Flathead Nation.  We have no idea which language these road signs were in, but decided the names were harder to pronounce than those in Welsh! 

National Bison Range overlooking the Mission Mountains and Mission Valley. An absolutely gorgeous sight!

 

P.S.   The dramamine took the edge off Maggie's stress, but she still wasn't a totally happy camper.  As the day wore on and the dose wore off she became more and more anxious.  For now, we will dose her on days we are on the road.

Back to civilization and my internet!!

Hmm...what shall I write about tonight?
Maggie with her "cigar."

After three weeks of iffy internet and WIFI I am so grateful that I have a good connection tonight!  I can't believe how spoiled we are with our constant connection to the world and when it is not there how frustrated we get.  How did we function in the days before this technology?  

We are in Missoula, MT for three nights and 2 days.  After being in one-horse towns for the last few nights we were ready for some civilization.  I'm sure we will be ready for fewer people by the time we leave here, though.  It's quite congested and the traffic is very metropolitan.  We did notice that there are no left turn signals and it backs things up when someone wants to turn left.  Wonder why they don't have them?  

Beautiful spot - next to the road!

In my previous post I mentioned that we stayed in a small campground and were the only overnight guests and that the campground was near the road.  Well, we got little to no sleep because of the road noise.  Usually when the campground is near the highway it isn't too bad because the noise is constant and becomes "white noise."  Well, US 2 carries its share of traffic, but it is in spurts.  So, just as you are getting to sleep, some big semi rolls by and its  air brakes start pumping because he is slowing down for the town.  Then, there's the train!  It was hot, it was noisy and we woke grumpy and tired even before the day started!

Mr. Fix-it replacing the screen in the door!

We drove through more amber waves of grain towards Spokane, WA where we got on I-90 East to Idaho.  We cruised through Idaho and the mountain mining towns and got into Montana where we stopped in St. Regis.  The campground was a former KOA run by some nice folks and was quiet!!  Hot again, though.  

We are having issues at night with this heat.  We get the place cooled down to 80 or so (it takes forever) and when the temp outside is the same as inside we turn off the A/C and open the windows and get the ceiling fans going.  So, it's kinda warm when we go to bed.  Then about 4am it starts getting cold.  We just can't get the jim-jams and blanket weights right and how many and which windows to leave open and it makes for some interrupted sleep.  The heat does get to me more than the cold and I've become a bit testy with it and lack of sleep. I will overcome this......

We are in a KOA in Missoula.  The place is huge!  It is a couple of city blocks wide and deep.  LOTS of people for the weekend.  We were lucky to find a spot as I forgot it was the weekend and didn't call until yesterday. (We are trying to be spontaneous and for Rog and me that is a hard thing to do!) One of the things I supposedly learned with our trips is to make sure you have someplace reserved on the weekend. Apparently I got a little carried away with the spontaneity thing. But, it worked out - as it mostly does.  So, tonight we have TV, WIFI and good cell coverage!   We have stores to buy food and a place to go out to dinner!  We were more than ready for it. 

If I look backwards maybe
 we won't go anywhere.

Yesterday morning I finally gave up and called our vet and explained Maggie's issues - hyperventilating, shaking, and recently whining. She won't lie down and sits backwards when the truck is running. He recommended some prescription anti-anxiety stuff but since we are on the road we sorta have a problem in acquiring it.  His second choice is to try some dramamine and, then if that doesn't work, to find a vet.  We didn't have any so I gave her some Bonine, which is also a motion sickness drug, that I had in my purse.  We think it worked a little, but by the time it should have kicked in it was her calmer time anyway, so it was hard to tell.  We tried it this morning and I think it quieted her a little.  Shall try the dramamine tomorrow and see how it goes.  We are taking a day trip so we won't be on the road all day.

We are going to the National Bison Range about an hour northwest of here where they have bison (duh), elk, antelope, bear, and big horn sheep.  It's a drive through park so we can take Miss Maggie with us.  So, we will pack our lunch and go off for an adventure.   

Sunday will be chore day after we go downtown Missoula to walk around their River Walk and outdoor market.  We need groceries again - having a small fridge requires grocery trips every 4 or 5 days!  And, of course, the laundry basket is full.  It will give us both a couple of easy days and Rog a couple of days to recoup from three days of driving.  

Sorry - no journal entry tonight

WIFI here is the slowest we've run across so am letting you know I'm saving myself til tomorrow !   I'm entering this on the phone one finger at a time and that's not going to do it!!!   Have photos and some observations to share but they will wait until I can use the computer.  

Glad to see my readership has picked up a little!  I was beginning to think no one cared but one or two loyal fans!  

Love you all!!

Tonight we are sitting in a very small RV park in the very small town of Wilbur, WA.  It is about 60 miles north of I-90 and 20 miles south of the Grand Coulee Dam.  It's about 88 degrees and the sun is shining, but we can see afternoon thunderheads off in the distance.   Right now we are outside sitting in the shade with Maggie and enjoying the breeze.

We are the only overnight guests so far and it is after 6pm as I write this.  The owners are super friendly people (and make great home made pies) and they gave us a huge site at the end of the park. Business seems very slow and we wonder how the business survives. Our site is ideal because the dog is able to run loose and chase her ball and no one cares about the dog not being on a leash.  We are close to US2 (right off the shoulder) so we are keeping our eyes on her - we don't want her running out in traffic  Surprisingly there is no fence between us and the highway. Except for the traffic noise, it is quite pleasant here.  No TV signal, the WIFI won't work on the phones, and cellular service is on the E network.  I am having no issues with the WIFI on the computer, so maybe later if we get bored with our books and crossword puzzles we can stream a movie on Netflix.  Maybe - don't know how strong their signal is.  Anyway, we are quite comfortable.  I won't be able to download any photos I took with the phone today due to the technology issues.  I will post them tomorrow, I hope.

As we drove the 60 miles north from I-90 on WA21 we were astounded at the amount of land being used for growing grains.  As far as the eye could see - gold, brown, yellow, green, thousands of acres being farmed. And this isn't even the grain belt of the U.S.   I asked the guy at the RV park what the farmers in the area grew.  He replied, "Mostly wheat - about 95%- and the rest in alfalfa, barley, chickpeas, some potatoes, and granola."   His wife looked at him and said, "Not granola, grinoa."  I'm sure she meant quinoa but pronounced it grinoa.  Lots and lots of waving grains.

We ate lunch at the site - we were here by noon - and dog-proofed the RV as best we could - and set off for a visit to Grand Coulee Dam, leaving Maggie  at home.  More wheat fields for those 20 miles!  I got some good photos of the dam.  It is monstrous in size!  We wandered around the visitor center and then decided not to take the tour they offered.  It would have meant waiting for an hour and then an hour tour and we weren't sure how Maggs was doing.  The visitor center displays pretty much fill you in on the whole building of it and we recently saw a PBS special on it, so we decided to go looking for a Native American museum and art gallery that was in town.  Never found it.  But,  we did find a hardware store!

When we got back, Mr. Fix-it took off the screen door and re-screened the bottom  portion that Maggie destroyed last night.  The guy at the store sold us some "pet" screen - thicker and more resistant to doggie toe nails.  Or so he says.  Stay tuned.  

We found no destruction on our return today, so who knows what goes on in that little brain of hers.  She was happy to see us and ran outside and did a bunch of crazy eights and then found her ball and brought it to us.  What a relief.   Oh, BTW, today's ride was untethered and backward!  She sat on her perch backwards but still did the panting and shaking stuff.  

Tomorrow we plan on about a 200 mile day (about 80 on two-lane US2 to Spokane where we pick up I-90 again) which will get us to St. Regis, Montana.  Then, who knows?  

From One Extreme to Another

Last Night's Sunset

NAS Whidbey Island, WA - 65 and sunshine this morning.  Figures, doesn't it?  The first day we wake to sun and warmth in 12 days is the day we leave. 

Moses Lake, WA - 95 and sunshine.  Wow, what a change, and yes, we're whining already about the heat!  No happy medium???  

As I mentioned yesterday, our plans to cross the Cascades and stay in a cooler climate for a couple of days got sacked when we discovered that the road was closed due to mudslides.  So, we had to fall back and regroup and ended up deciding to go south on I-5 to Bellevue, WA and head east on I-90.  The trip around the Seattle metropolitan area wasn't as bad as anticipated and it only took 2.5 hours to get down to I-90.  (We did have a 20 minute stop.)  Traffic on I-90 was good and we only had road construction for 50 miles - over Snoqualime Pass!  Not bad, eh?  

The scenery changed, obviously, from dense forests on Whidbey to a metropolitan area, to pine forests in the mountains, to farm lands, to lava rock, to farm land again, and then to desert.  All in one day!  

Hay Storage with Japanese writing.

In the valley that Ellensburg is in, the fields are all planted with timothy grass for hay and a little alfalfa.  All big business.  Didn't see many cattle, so where is this hay going?
It was piled up every where and at one point we noticed the Japanese writing on one of the tarps.  Are we shipping it there?  Have they bought up all the land and businesses? 

Something that always bugs me is that all over the country one drives past a farm or orchard and unless you're a farmer or botanist, who have to guess at the crop.  Well, today, for about 50 miles, the farmers posted signs telling you what they were raising!  It was nice, even though, it was only alfalfa, timothy grass, and corn.  Somewhere I saw a sign saying the area was big into producing potatoes, but I didn't recognize any potato plants along the highway.  

Stopped at a rest area - grass for people, desert scrub for dogs.  Well, that's understandable because if you have a dog you can't have a nice lawn.  Well, what really bugged me is that to get to the post that had the doggie bags for your use and signs to pick up after your pet everywhere, you had to tiptoe through dog poo.  What is wrong with people? 

We drove through George, Washington where the streets are named for presidents and there is a huge fruit warehouse called Valley Forge Fruits.  Cool, huh?

Our park tonight is OK - nice grassy areas around the RVs but the attitude of the staff is less than welcoming.  I called yesterday evening after we had to change plans, to reserve a site.   The office was closed, so I left my name and number and indicated what kind of site we needed and asked them to call back in the morning to let me know if they had anything available. No response from them. So, I called again around 10am and went through the same information drill. Still no response!  At about 1pm I called again and got a human being who was non-apologetic and really quite officious.  But they did have a site for us and I booked it.  Now, my two loyal readers will tell you that I have issues with answering machines but I'm sure the RV park staff got messages.  When we arrived the lady was busy helping some kids - making them smoothies.  She was the only one in the office.  She did not acknowledge me at all.  When she had finished with the kids she did thank me for waiting.  When I told her I had called several times, her response, was "I'm sorry, how do you want to pay?" 

Maggie's adventures - well, the first 1.5 hours were her usual hyperness.  We stopped for a break and she calmed down afterward, but not so much that she relaxed enough to sleep.  She ended up sitting on my lap the last hour or so with her eyes closed, but refusing to lie down.  And, brother-in-law, I did try your advice and not hook her to the seat belt.  It made a slight difference but I did notice today that when she finally relaxes and then the road surface changes, she gets all "worried" again.   She collapsed when we got her set up in her pen - which is the first thing we do when we pull into an RV site.  Then, we left her to go get fuel - she was crashed out on the kitchen floor and looked like we would face some serious resistance if tried to get her back into the truck. So, Rog says "let her stay - she's really tired." We came home to no screen in the front door - totally ripped out.  She has been so good, something got her going tonight, apparently.  The bright side - it's too hot to have the door open to use the screen door anyway, so there is no big hurry to fix it.  How's that for the glass being half-full rather than half-empty?  (Rog says that I just can't help my optimism - which he does not always share.)

We are going to take a side trip tomorrow and go up to see the Grand Coulee Dam.  It's about 70 miles north and we found an RV park so we can leave Maggs in the RV air conditioning while we tour the dam.  Who knows what we will come home to.  

So Much for Plan A

Well, we are having to change plans a bit.  Discovered this evening that the route we planned across the Cascades is shut down due to 8 landslides across the highway! No expected date of reopening. They had massive thunderstorms there yesterday and today, I guess.  So, Rog is currently looking at the map and I'm studying the RV directory so we can figure out where we are going tomorrow.  We've already given away our site, so we have to move on.  Just to where we don't know.  Stay tuned...........

OK, We've Had Enough.....

I took this photo last year when
we were here - see the sunshine!
The Ladybugs are still here and make
me smile every day when we walk by.

....rain, fog, overcast skies, and 60 degree temperatures.  We are ready to move on.  We decided today that we would forfeit a couple of nights and leave early, so the plan is to take off Tuesday morning and head due east.  We really are fair weather RVers. 

Tomorrow we will make groceries, do laundry, and clean house in readiness for the next leg of our journey.  We really are ready to move on and I think we would be even if the weather had been a little more cooperative.  Two weeks is too long in one place (except when we "winter") and we will think twice about planning that again - anywhere.  We have 14 days from when we leave until we are due in Denver to visit a good friend from our Navy days (and the best man at our wedding ceremony - 45.5 years ago) and there's lots of territory to see and explore between here and there! In a few days you'll probably find us whining about the heat again - but not for a few days!  

Roger has decided that he doesn't want to drive I-5 around Seattle before going east, so we will point the truck due east from the island on WA20 (The Cascade Highway).  We've been told that even though it is two lanes and crosses the mountains that it isn't a bad drive for an RV.  Now, let's hope this guy wasn't joshing us.  He did have a large motor home and says he takes this route often because it is so beautiful.  So, off we go!  

We probably won't check in with you again until we reach our next destination on Tuesday - Winthrop, Washington just east of the Cascade range.    Until then......

It rained during the night, but this morning it is only overcast, which is better than fog!  Yesterday the fog was so dense and so wet (100% humidity) that when I took Maggie out for her morning walk I felt as if it were raining.  If you got under a tree the moisture dripped like rain.  SO strange!!!

We packed a lunch yesterday, put Maggie in the truck and took off looking for sunshine.  We went south on Whidbey Island and ran into sun almost immediately after leaving the base.  We found our way to a small touristy type town, Langley, on the southern, leeward side of the island. It was about 40 miles away. It was sunny and 80 degrees.  The town was about 4 blocks square and was comprised of little boutique stores, restaurants, book stores, and one or two souvenir shops.  We found a small park, ate our lunch and then walked back to "downtown."  Vendors were setting up for a street market so we found a used book store/coffee shop with outdoor seating and sat there with Maggie until the vendors were "open." Couldn't resist buying a book along with my tea!   I also got some most delicious locally grown strawberries, blackberries, and peaches from the local farmers.  

Maggie was very good in this new, for her, environment.  We kept the leash short so she wouldn't trip anyone up and she stayed at heel position most of the time.  The only time we had any issue was when I stepped on her foot and she squealed.  At that point, everyone within ear shot turned to look at me as if I had been beating her.  Very embarrassing!!  She and Roger found a bench outside a shop I went into where the owner had put out a bowl of water and a container of dog treats.  They made themselves comfortable on the "MAN BENCH - give your wife your wallet and be comfortable while she's inside" and apparently Maggie attracted a lot of attention and made new friends.  She did very well! The road trip part was still a little nerve wracking for her, but she had a good time otherwise.  

After lunch today we are going to an art and craft fair south of us in Coupeville which is only about 10 miles. Coupeville is another seaside town with little boutique shops and restaurants so if the fair is a dud we still can do some browsing. Should be a nice outing.  

******************

It WAS a nice outing!!   Sunshine and 70 degrees, lots of vendors/artists and lots of people to watch!  The fair attracted good artisans and a good variety of art work to look at.  I spent a good deal of my allowance on myself and had a super time despite not buying any jewelry or yard art which are my usual purchases at these types of venues!   We stopped on the way back and had frozen yogurt, so the afternoon was very, very pleasant.

Another first for Maggie and us - when we got home she met us at the door with her ball, went running outside with it when we opened the door and then did her "crazy eights" (when she is excited she runs at top speed through the house making figure eights for about 10 minutes until she wears out).  She brought us the ball, we tossed it and she brought it back!!  She does that in the house but we have never tried it when she was loose.  She was great.  When she was done she took her ball and went into her pen and just looked at us as if this behavior were perfectly normal.  What a good dog!!!  She has really come a long way since the first traumatic-for us-all month!

Have no idea what tomorrow will bring but hope it is another lovely day!

Just in the Nick of Time....

On a clear day you can see forever!
Mt. Baker in the Cascades

We awoke to sunshine today!  It's a good thing because yesterday we were plotting on how we could leave a week early and not lose our money or stay the next week and not lose our minds!  The all-day fog was getting to us, for sure! (A neighbor is committed to a month and is also wondering what they were thinking when they booked it!)  We did come here for cooler weather, and last year when we were here this time of year the weather was perfect.  So much for that logic.  I know our daughter and son-in-law are laughing at us because they used to live here and were wondering why we were coming up here in the first place.  Oh well.  Live and learn. 

I was craving chips today so Roger took me into town for a sandwich and a bag of chips at lunch time.  We can't keep them in the house because we would be in them all the time. Every once in a while, though, I have to have some - french fries are the same way.  When I need them, I need them - in a portion controlled size.  We are both doing well, though, at maintaining our goal weights.  It's a little harder when we are on the road as the mindset often wanders to "vacation" and isn't that part of going on a trip - eating stuff you don't get at home?

You can see the fog in the background on the water.  

We did have some fog today - it rolled onto the beach but didn't come inland, and the after a couple of hours it rolled out again.  Perfect.  It was 70 degrees and sunny in town and we watched the temperature drop on the truck thermometer as we came back to the base.  At the RV park it was a sunny 62!!  It was windy and the surf was up a bit.  Boats were out tending their crab pots and we even saw some sail boats today.  What a vast improvement over the last few days!

We took the opportunity this afternoon in the relative warmth and sunshine to empty our "basement" and reorganize it so we could find stuff.  When we left home we just kinda tossed things in.  Maggie stayed outside with us and we let her off the leash with her pen door open.  She wandered around the site but never went very far.  We were so glad to see that, as we now know she won't bolt.  There is a leash requirement. We just have to be careful not to get caught!  Now, we just have to work on the off leash thing when we go for a walk - she tries to dive into the bushes after rabbits and other critters she thinks she hears.  We can't afford to have her go into the brambles because we can't go in after her.  I told her they were for Br'er Rabbits and not Br'er Dogs but I don't think she believed me.    

Less Fog and More Joggers and Airplanes

Short entry tonight as there is absolutely nothing happening.  The fog lifted earlier today than it has been - around 3pm.  The sailors are still out jogging and the pilots are still practicing their landings - only it's a different squadron with different aircraft.  We stuck around here today.  Did some laundry, worked on the banking, started looking at maps for when we leave here, started a good book and took a long walk along the beach.  How exciting, huh?  

Here are the driftwood "sculptures" for today:

Touch and Gos

Yesterday was jogging day for the folks on the base.  Today is flying airplanes day!  The fighter jets are doing their "touch and gos" - practice landings. They fly in circles around the air base and come in, touch the runway, throttle up, circle around and do it all again.  It's 8pm and they have been at it since about 4pm when the fog finally lifted!   Noisy, but we know they will be ready if/when the time comes.  The sound of "freedom."  We didn't want to watch TV anyway!

Watching airplanes
 and trying to stay warm.

Again today we woke to heavy fog but instead of the usual breeze off the water we had wind.  It was 51 degrees.  It was a bit nippy when I took Maggie out to do her business this morning.  Thankfully she didn't waste any time and headed home the minute she was done.  

We packed a lunch and headed inland and over to the "mainland" this morning.  We found sunshine and 80 degrees.  There was a Camping World (RVer's Toy Store) near the intersection with I-5 and, as always, we found something to buy.  There was a nice little park along the Skagit River in Mt. Vernon and we stopped to eat our lunch. Rog found a place to get his hair cut far enough away from the base that he wouldn't get the buzz cut automatically!  We still had fog when we returned, so we all had a nap - until the airplanes started. 

We took Maggie with us today.  She wanted to go, jumped in the truck and the minute Rog started it she went into her hyper mode.  She stopped a few minutes later when we got fuel, then started again.  After going shopping in the Camping World (pets are welcome) and lunch she was so much better on the way back.  A little heavy breathing, but nothing like before.  We wonder how she/we are going to handle the rest of the trip.

There are two young men who have been on the beach right in front of our spot since early this morning.  They have dug a hole about waist deep and it looks like 15 feet long.  They've been lining it with driftwood.  It's still just a hole tonight, but we are anxious to see what it turns into.  

Albino Ladybugs and Other Observations

We woke to cold fog this morning - more dense than the last few mornings. Had the furnace set at 65 and it ran several times during the night.  No complaint - we came here looking for cool weather and we've found it.  The fog stuck around the RV park and the coastal areas until it finally burned off about 4pm. Temperature never got above 60 in the park. We wear long sleeved shirts and sweat shirts which makes us look like the tourists we are.  The natives are in shorts and tee shirts.  It's their version of summer and we've not heard a single comment about the weather being cool.  I can only wonder what they would think of the 108 degree temps we left in Reno. They'd think we were crazy to live in such a place. Maybe we are, but we love the sunshine and clear skies.  But we do occasionally seek cooler climes as a respite and to remind us how much we like it in Northern Nevada!

We took a drive inland and north, mid morning, and once we got about two miles from here the sun was shining and it was in the high 60s and low 70s.  Nice.   We went into Anacortes, the largest town on the island, to look for a nice lunch place and to just look around. We found lots of little restaurants of all cuisines which will probably mean a few more trips into town for lunch, oh darn.  We wandered through a couple of antique/junque stores, stopped at the Safeway, for the stuff I forgot at the commissary, and at a fruit stand where I purchased some fresh picked Washington fruit!  Yum!!!  

Once we got back around 3pm, we tried to take Maggie for a walk along the trail but kept getting bumped off by sailors and marines doing their PT jogging.  So, we pulled up a chair on the patio and watched the parade.  So many young people!  So many natural athletes!  So many struggling to keep up!  Of course the squad of marines all ran down to the beach and then did their jog in the surf to show the sailors how tough they were.  Pretty funny.  Roger swears that everyone on the base ran by us at least once coming and going!  There were a lot of joggers!!  So, we waited until after dinner to take our walk with Maggs.  Only old folks on the trail then.  

The RV park has two sections of about 20 RV sites each.  I would guess that probably 95% of the occupants are retired geezers like we are.  The retired Officers are in big motor homes and the Enlisted in trailers and 5th wheels. Just another example of the "division" between Officers and Enlisted.  The other 5% are active duty troops waiting for housing or vacating housing waiting for their transfer date.  The young couple next to us will be headed to Pensacola and then Jacksonville, FL the first of Sept.  They are in a 30 foot trailer with all their stuff (well, half their stuff is under the trailer) and a little girl who is just walking. We hear her running from one end of the place to the other.  Every night some of their friends come over for a BBQ. Tonight there are six couples.  It's quiet, though. No rowdiness, bad language, or other activities you might expect from a gathering of sailors - we are grateful! They are all in their 20s  with the women each hefting a baby on their hip.  Such memories it brings back.  It is so hard to believe we were once that young.  

Photos from our walk tonight:

Looking north to San Juan Islands

Roger and Friend!

Part of the trail that is called "Cardiac Hill."
There are three of these lovely sets
 of stairs.  Luckily this is one we go down!

Albino Ladybug Crossing