July 31, 2016 Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge

It has been a beautiful day for a scenic drive.  All eight of us drove to the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, situated along the banks of the Kootenai River.

In the spring and fall the refuge is flooded for the waterfowl to feed, and nest.  Also seen in the spring and fall are moose, elk, deer (two kinds).

Fields of wheat.  Using a rail card for grain storage.

Display at the Visitors' Center: comparion of bird sizes

Metal art at the Visitors' Center

Mountain Stream

Two different tree trunks growing side by side

The uphill hike was worth the view!  100' waterfall

The upper section of the waterfall. 

Blowing in the wind!  Gayla and Glen

Giant dandelion???

Momma Mallard with her brood!

Where in the world is....Mildred, Jeff, Marcella, Evelyn???

July 30, 2016 Another Time Zone (Carriage House Inn&RV Park, Bonners Ferry, ID)

Welcome to Idaho! You have entered the Pacific Time Zone!

It was a beautiful drive from Hungary Horse, MT to Bonners Ferry ID today.  We will leave here Monday morning going west to Washington.

Everyone was starved when we arrived.  Glen parked the motorhome, connected the appropriate hoses and cords.  Off we went to "Mi Pueblo", which served a delicious lunch.

We sat outdoors with everyone, appreciating the evening and family time.

July 28, 2016 (Thur.) "Do What You Want" Day

Everyone was ready for a day with no commitments today.

We chose to stay in the park, except for the few minutes that Glen drove through town looking for a car wash.  None to be found.

I baked a cake this morning in preparation for a fish dinner tonight.  Jeff fried crappie which he had caught last winter at Falcon Lake, Zapata TX.  Wow, was it delicious!  Evelyn did corn bread and fresh corn; and Mildred brought slaw!  A great meal.

The musicians played and sang for a couple of hours tonight.

July 27, 2016 "Going to the Sun" Road, Glacier NP---Lots of pictures

Note: you can click on each picture to enlarge.

The shortest way from West Glacier NP to East Glacier Park is the "Going to the Sun" Road.  The Road is "one of the world's most spectacular highways.  Bisecting the heart of Glacier, the 50-mile long road follows the shores of the park's two largest lakes and hugs the cliffs below the Continental
Divide.  Many scenic turnouts and wayside exhibits let you stop to enjoy the park at your own pace."

Here's the important part: "Vehicles over 21 feet including bumpers or over 8 feet wide including mirrors are prohibited between Avalanche Creek and Sun Point."  Believe you me, you don't want to be any bigger than this side!  

Gayla and Glen

Notice the sheer cliffs below the stone wall.  The CCC work crews built the walls and road in 1932.

Growing out of a tiny bit of dirt on the stone cliff.

More of the stone walls and sheer cliffs.

Unstable snow piles; melting from underneath.

Wish I knew about blooming plants.

Jackson Glacier.  Glaciers in the park will be melted and gone by 2030.

Gary and Evelyn

Jackson Glacier

St. Mary Lake with Goose Island; apprx 9 miles long and 400' deep

Fireweek in bloom all through the burned forest.  Last forest fire was in 2015.

McDonald Creek--beautiful waterfall

Yes, we are driving to the top of that!

Snowmelt still providing plenty of water for falls.

This falls runs under the road!  Notice the walls.

Scenery is beautiful

  There are numerous hikes that can be walked/climbed by the adventerous!  Since there is very little flat land, the hikes are through rocky and uphill terrain.

July 26, 2016 Across Montana (Crooked Tree Campground, Havre MT)

Wheat fields as far as the eye can see!

Someplace to store the wheat

The road was straight!

Harvesting wheat!

When the bins are full, pile it on the ground!

It was about five hours from Havre MT on Highway 2 to Hungary Horse, MT.

We are appreciative that we had reservations here as several of the campgrounds have "No Vacancy".

July 25, 2016 On The Road (Evergreen Campground, Havre MT)

Sorry! no pictures today.

The only appropriate picture would have been Glen behind the steering wheel.  We were just going from Point A to Point B.

We left Medora ND this morning about 9:30 and stopped about 5:30 p.m.  We traveled east to west on Highway 2, a dotted scenic highway across the top of Montana.

There was lots/many/numerous/too many to count bales of hay in huge fields.  There was wheat being harvested, and wheat waiting to be combined.  There were fields of sunflowers, not yet in bloom.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be here when those hundreds of acres of sunflowers are in full bloom?

There were fields of alfalfa.

There were hundreds of horses behind fences.

Every small village/town has casinos.  If there are just two or four machines in the lobby, it is called a casino!

I think it was Saturday morning when Gary and Evelyn were preparing for departure when there was a front jack failure (to retract) on the fifth wheel.  After some persuasion with a sledge hammer on the leveling pad under the jack, the jack was able to be manually secured in the up position.

Of course there was no one to call over the week end.  This morning Gary called the RV manufacturer and the extended warranty company.  After receiving permission to go a dealer (in Billings MT--a 5 hour trip), they left at 8:30 this morning.  They arrived at the dealer to learn 1) there was a replacement jack in stock; and 2) it would be three weeks before they could work on the rig.  Sigh. They bought the replacement jack.  If nothing else Gary thought he and Glen and Jeff could install it themselves--if needed.

However, there was an independent repair shop less than a mile from the dealer.  They drove up there!  Hurray! they could work on it right then.  In less than an hour the broken jack was removed and the new one installed.

In the meantime we were headed west.  They headed north and arrived at the same RV park where we are just two and half hours after us.  Can you say tired!!!

Everyone (except Gary/Ev) went into Havre for dinner at a wonderful Mexican restaurant.  We also stopped at WalMart on the way back to the RVs.

When we got there Gary/Ev were parked and set up.

We have a relatively short travel day planned for tomorrow--a 4.5 hour trip.  We will be on the western side of Glacier National Park.  We will be there for four nights.  Everyone is ready to be in one place for a while!

The RV Rookies--Doug and Mildred-- are adjusting well.  Doug is having no issues driving.  All is well with the RV.  They have been "full-timers" for one week today!

July 24, 2016 Theodore Roosevelt Nat Park, Medora ND

(Red Trail Campground, Medora, ND)

"I have always said I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota."  Theodore Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt came to ND after the death of his wife, in childbirth, and his mother, typhoid, on the same day(1884).
He came to mourn and grieve and lose himself in the vastness of this area.

He was in SD for three years where he established a cattle ranch, which eventually failed.  He returned to New York. He eventually became president of the US 1901-1909.  He established the US Forest Service, signed the 1906 Antiquities Act which led to 18 national monuments.  He worked with Congress to create five national parks, 150 national forests and dozens of federal reserves.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park was not of his own creation. It became a national park in 1947.

Today we drove the 36-mile scenic loop through the southern unit of the park.  There are bison, wild horses, prairie dogs, pronghorn, deer as well as badlands, hoo-doos, Little Missouri River bottom land.

Changing landscape of the National Park

There is a hoo-doo in the center of the picture:  a column of soil topped by a hard crust of soil or stone.

More hoo-doo's

What a pose from a member of the herd of wild horses.

I really like the young grey horse.

Gary, Evelyn Doug, Mildred, Marcella, Glen.  Jeff was wandering around!

More scenery.

The buffalo were roaming!

Posing for a Nickel!  

The weather is not at hot as yesterday! Evelyn and Mildred even started the day with a jacket--but that didn't last long!

July 23, 2016 Check this State off your List! (Red Trail Campground, Medora ND)

We were ready to leave the RV park in Custer by 10 a.m..  It was a short 5 hour trip going into North Dakota.

We were directed by the local police this morning, detouring around the parade that started at 10.

There were lots of fields of "amber waves of grain" during today's route.  We saw corn, wheat, barley/oats, and a few fields of canola.  The wide open plains were surrounded by mesas and high hills.  There were fields filled with cattle, and some sheep.  We saw several pronghorn, and a few deer.

The west wind blew across the highway and our rigs the entire trip!

When we crossed from South Dakota into North Dakota, Marcella, and Mildred both exclaimed that this was the first trip into ND!

We are in Medora ND, just to the west of the entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  There is a 36-mile scenic drive that we will enjoy tomorrow!

July 21-22, 2016 Another Day Trip

Yesterday, Thursday, we enjoyed a day of rest.

Mildred, Doug, Marcella, Jeff, and Evelyn went on a nearly 7-mile hike to the top of Mt. Harney, highest peak in SD. They reported the view at the top was worth the hike!

Last night Marcella and Evelyn and Doug played their guitars with Mildred and Glen singing along.

Today the Family Caravan left at nine in two pick ups, heading north to the Spearfish Canyon, a scenic drive.  There were beautiful falls, babbling Spearfish Creek, and tall canyon walls.

After a quick lunch in city of Spearfish we headed north into Wyoming to the Devils Tower National Monument.

Some of the beautiful flora in Spearfish Canyon

Spearfish Creek

This is a beautiful bloom; I do not know what it is called.

(L)Gary, Evelyn, Mildred, Marcella, Jeff, Doug, Glen along Spearfish Creek

Bridal Veil Falls, Spearfish Canyon

Glen and Gayla

Glen showing off his muscles: Devils Tower, Hulett WY

Devils Tower, Hulett WY

Devils Tower

Yes, mountain climbers do ascend this Tower.  No, we didn't see any today.
BTW: it was 101 degrees while we were there.

We saw a variety of scenery today: fir tree forests, hills decimated by forest fires, buttes, mesas, red rocks, wide open spaces, high blue skies filled with white fluffy cloud formations.

We have enjoyed this time in the Mt. Rushmore area.  Tomorrow we will be heading north in search of cooler temps!  and more national parks!