We Should Have Stayed Here for the Rest Day!

We are back to grass - no trees - but lots of grass!!!  Maggie's happy, I'm happy, therefore, Roger's happy.

We got on the road at our regular time this morning - around 9am but only had less than 100 miles to go.  I had booked this place last minute when I couldn't get into the next place today and we needed an interim stop.  We are in Deer Lodge, MT which is a bit north of Butte and south of Missoula along I-90.  It's a small town and from what I read in the local flyers, the second town to be incorporated in Montana. The old territorial prison and several related museums are the main attraction for the city. The another attraction is a huge ranch with original buildings that have been dubbed a national historical site.   It's a beautiful valley with high mountains west and south of us. The campground is next to the Little Bigfoot River and is quite comfy.  Temperatures were comfortable until about 4pm and I had to turn on the AC.  Once the sun goes down we can shut it off.  

We almost had an incident on the road outside of Helena this morning.  Two big dogs loping down the center of our lane headed directly for us.  Roger slammed on the brakes and swerved to the side which had a narrow shoulder.  I was hanging on to the door with one hand and on to Maggie with the other.  We missed the dogs with the truck and just barely with the RV.  Our hearts were pounding.  That could have ruined our day.  We just hope the line of traffic behind us missed those critters too.  It was quite scary.

We got into Deer Lodge very early - around 11am.  Most places don't let you come in until after noon or 1 o'clock.  We pulled into an empty parking lot and I called the campground to see if we could go on in.  Cass, the owner, said she had no problem with it but she was at the bank and for us to just pull in.  She had our site posted on the door and we had started setting up when she got back.  She told me to take Maggie off the leash and let her come in the office/store with me when I registered and she gave her a "cookie."  Amazing welcome.  We are used to people being pleasant, but this was such an enthusiastic welcome!    This is the neatest, cleanest, most well maintained KOA we have been in.  It's tiny in comparison to most as she doesn't have many sites, but it is meticulously clean.  She's got her grandson working here learning the ropes in hopes she can turn the place over to him.  At one point today she was teaching him how to "deadhead" some pansies she had in a flower box.   She had some dog-shaped dog cookies on the counter in the office that she and her grandson made.  Of course I had to get two for Maggie. She just got the tail of the dog but that was enough for her to beg for more.  Maggie loves them and tonight when I took her for her "business" walk she headed for the office and was upset when I wouldn't let her go in.

We looked again for a barber - none in this town.  We did find a Safeway and while Roger was getting fuel I walked over to it and got some much needed produce.  (I got in trouble because Roger didn't hear me tell him where I was going and after he got the fuel he frantically was looking for me everywhere. He thought I'd gone into the store at the station to use the restroom.  He couldn't find me anywhere.  He finally spotted the Safeway and found me there.  It was a bit of an anxious moment for him to have me just disappear.  Next time I'll leave a note in my seat!!)  The mom and pop places we have frequented have had a rather limited selection of the foods we eat.  It was good to load up although I suspect our next stop will have a grocery store as it is an even larger town.  

Last time we were through Helena I fell in love with it.  It's a very nice looking city.  Only problem is I can't live in Montana - Not even for the summer months.  They don't recycle - anywhere.  It is a very RED state, too, although most of the folks we have met have been very nice but politics have never been brought up.  It is a very beautiful place, though.  

Tomorrow we will go about 150 miles north to Polson, MT which sits at the bottom end of Flathead Lake.  We have 3 nights reserved and hope to do some sightseeing in the area.