First stop -- We camped for three days at Blackwell Island in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Sally and Keith met us on their trip home from Canmore, B.C. We enjoyed visiting and Sally's nice treat of dinner at The White House in Post Falls.
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| The view from our front window: the Spokane River at the entrance to Lake Coeur d'Alene |
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| Tight fit, but a wonderful setting |
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| The view from our door: the boat dock on the Spokane River |
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| Fourth of July Pass on I-90 in Idaho |
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| Just east of Lookout Pass on I-90 |
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| Garrison, MT |
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Our
second stay was at Riverfront RV Park in Garrison, near Deer Lodge,
Montana. The park owner said this was the first Montana park to be
written up in
Best Bets for Big Rigs -- That's one of our favorite guides to selecting campgrounds, along with
rvparkreviews.
In
Deer Lodge, we discovered Wilcoxson's ice cream. Wonderful stuff! This
was an Aha moment! in our world of treats. We had planned to explore the
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Park Site, a
huge 19th century ranch. Turned out we hadn't scheduled enough time to go through the main ranch house, so we talked with the park ranger about the time of the cowboys and open-range cattle drives. We also viewed historical photos at the ranger station. Right then we decided to explore
this area at a more leisurely pace another summer soon.
From Garrison, we headed to Great Falls, Montana.
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| The Missouri River on the way to Great Falls |
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| Missouri River |
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| Going to Great Falls |
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| Going to Great Falls |
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| Great Falls, Montana |
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We camped at Dick's RV Park in Great Falls. Because of our reservations and time schedule, we had to choose between spending the afternoon at the C.M. Russell House and Museum or the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretative Center
We decided to learn more about Charles Russell and his art. This was a wonderful experience. We wish we could have taken photos inside his workshop, house, and paintings, but the museum requested no cameras inside.
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| Leaving Great Falls for Emigrant, Montana |
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| Along the walkway at Yellowstone's Edge RV Park |
Our next campsite
was near Emigrant, Montana. We drove to Livingston, and then 19 more
miles through Paradise Valley to Yellowstone's Edge RV Park. Next summer (maybe that soon?)
we will stay at least one week or two weeks here. Lovely
setting on the Yellowstone River . . . about 30 miles from the north entrance to
Yellowstone Park . . . evening socials around a campfire near the rv park's
store . . . interesting conversations with fellow campers from Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Idaho. Oh! and Wilcoxson's ice cream, made in Livingston, Montana, and for sale at Yellowstone's Edge. I think my favorite flavor is Stuck in a Rut.
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| Yellowstone's Edge RV Park |
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| Wonderful barbeque in Emigrant, Montana |
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| On the way to Sheridan, Wyoming |
We camped one night in Sheridan, Wyoming, and then headed to Evansville, very near Casper, Wyoming.
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| Interrupted by the door latch |
That's where our travel plans fell apart. Our one and only door would not open from the outside. It had been occasionally sticky, but now in Evansville, seven out of ten times it jammed locked. It would still operate correctly if you were inside unlatching the door. We didn't want to get locked in. We were afraid of getting locked out. One RV repair shop refused to look at it. Another told us to figure out what brand/size lock we had and then he would replace it. In addition to these local RV repair guys, ways of dealing with this -- from leaving the door ajar 24/7 to placing a ladder next to the driver's open window to plugging the lock openings with silicone stuff and then hoping for the best -- didn't seem like best practices to us.
Lots of discussion, lots of angst. After Casper, we had been headed to the main events of this summer: Cody and then Cheyenne. Not this trip! Instead, we took the shortest route home. We drove on WY 220 from Evansville to Rawlins and then continued on I-80 through Rock Springs to the night's camping spot in Evanston, Wyoming.
From Evanston , WY, to Caldwell, ID, everything went well. Then coming north on US-95 in Idaho, the motorhome's engine/transmission overheated and the coach came to a halt. It died, quit, stopped rolling along. It just stopped. This scared me more than anything ever before. The breakdown happened about 3/4 mile from the top of White Bird Hill. Thankfully we were able to pull onto the shoulder of this two-lane highway.
We are forever grateful to a resident of White Bird, the town located at the bottom of the seven mile grade, for stopping and waiting with Roger until the motorhome was cool enough to fire up again. Then in his vehicle, he followed Roger over the summit of White Bird Hill and down onto the Camas Prairie, where this kind man stopped again, checking that Roger and the motorhome were doing okay.
About two hours (and five miles) after the trouble began . . . we were in Grangeville. We have never ever been so glad to be in Grangeville!
Grangeville had cell service. We both talked to Mike at Motorhomes of Texas about how to limp home -- no dash AC, no toad hooked up, and stops every time the coach temperature reached the red zone. We had to stop and let the transmission cool three times climbing the Lewiston Hill. What a day!
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| Checking in with Mike at Motorhomes of Texas |
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| At Grangeville |
August 1 We're happy and glad to be home.
September 5 After rest and repairs, we're back on the road!
