Been at Sunrise RV park in East Bozeman,Mont since Sunday June 23rd. We're surrounded the Gallitan Mtns and to the North the Bridger Range Mtns. We're about 11 miles east of my son,Scott's, hometown.
It wasn't long before Scott and his lady Machelle were here to visit. They saw us at our last camp in Reed Point,Mont so we were all on the same page. He's loaned us his van to use while we're here. That's gonna come in handy for sure.
Monday was a go to the Rocky Mountain Museum day. It's only a few miles from camp. Very nice museum. In the evening we went to Scott's place and had a great evening of conversation and a great dinner prepared by Machelle. Stayed up way later than we're used to and stayed the night. Up & at 'em at 0700. Scott cooked a great breakfast and we drank a few pots of java.
Scott and Machelle's dog, Daisy, even welcomed us. Wag,wag,wag !!
We had planned on a 2nd day at the museum but opted for a quiet day and naps..guess the old man should know better than to try to keep up with the kids..LOL..
Might use the van to drive down to Yellowstone Park next week. I'll bet it's easier to tour there than driving the motorhome around. Yellowstone Park is only an hour or so South of us.
I'll give ya a few more pictures.
Hopin' your summer is fun too!!
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY! Charlie & Heather
We had a very smooth travel day. Great Temp for us and the rig! 70 and light wind, felt very comfy. I'm glad the weatherman was off!
We crossed into Montana about 1200 and it seems the landscape took on a meaning of its own! Rock outcroppings like other states but a greener hue. Smoother and softer. The "welcome Center" was 57 miles into the State and was brand new.. interesting! It was more like a museum. New maps aquired as usual.
We landed in Reed Point, Mt. at Old west RV Park. The owner got us checked in quickly. Nice guy!
We knew b4 we got here that the Park was small. Since we pulled in at 1430hrs we were about 2 hrs early from everyone else. We were right!. Only 80 mls from Scott & Machelle just down the road.. We did decide to do a 2 dayer here due to the quick pit stops in the past few days.
During setup we had another couple pull in. Chit chat ensued and we all decided to go into "Happy Hour" mode! (imagine that !!!)
Swapped stories, found out they just started fulltiming, and neither of us has been in this town before.
Due to yesterday's research, we know there's a local pub just a block or so North of us..GUESS where we headed???
We wandered down the street. There's only 100 residents here! Easily found the pub...we weren't there for 5 mintes before the "locals" discovered us....lot's of sentences later we were all laughing together..I think this is the smallest town we've ever been in.
It'll be good to wake up tomorrow and have absolutely no plan at all!
I wasn't gonna put any photos on here today, but...
So!!
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY ! Charlie & Heather
Up & running about 10AM from Casper to Sheridan Wyoming. We used I-25 N all the way and only made a quick stop for lunch and gas. The sights enrt were awesome. Great outcroppings of rock and sheer dropoffs. The hues of reds and greens and browns will never be captured by any camera but they will stick in your mind forever. The farms here are immense and at any moment you'll see pronghorn deer and livestock and who knows what else ! It seems strange to see rather large lakes way up in the mountains.
We gained elevation today. Long distances between services and the highway signs warn you about the distances. Some of the pullouts provide great spots for gawking.
We pulled into Sheridan about 2PM and found Peter D's RV Park. Got all hooked up and they even have cable. Verizon phones and wi-fi have strong signals. The Rv Park is very well laid out and all sites are pull thrus. Nice place!
Only doin' a 1 niter here. Heading to Reed Point, Montana tomorrow, 203 mls. That's a little further than we usually do in one day but choices are thin.
I'll be short this blog and give ya a few pictures of todays ride.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather
Up this morning at 0700 in Wheatland, Wy.. Did the usual web surfing, news, weather etc. BAM--it was 0900. Had enough java to float a ship..Decided we should get moving. Unhitched and pulled out at 10AM. Stopped by the local Post Office to send some mail out and cruised the town enrt to I-25 North. We were both wanting some breakfast so we stopped at a local eatery and loaded us up. On the highway at 1100.
Our destination choice today was Casper, Wy..a comfortable 120 miles. I gotta say that the landscape is awesome and over every hilltop, and there were a lot of them, was a continuous series of oooh's & ahhhhs ! Heather took a LOT of pictures. She even managed to shoot a strange creature on a hill! :)
The suprising fact is it's a long ways between any services. Some of the grades (inclines ) were making the powerful 454 engine do some work but the old gal still had some pickup and we passed a lot of trucks that were struggling. (I think I can, I know I can!!) The engine runs a lot better since I set the timing with a vaccuum guage last week. I noticed our gas mileage is much better too!
We got to Casper by 1400 and since we haven't seen a Wal*mart in weeks we pulled into one to get a fix!! LOL. About $150 later we had the shelves & fridge full again. Saw that the gas prices in town were tolerable @ $3.59/g mid-grade. So, we filled up. GRRRRR! Back on I-25 W and 2 more exits to get to the Ft Casper CG. It's a Passport America affiliate so we get 50% off and only pay $15/nite. It's located within & behind the Ft Casper museum so we'll tour that tomorrow and stay here for 2 days.
We're really trying to stay near our goal of 2-2-2. Drive 200 miles or less, or 2 hrs and stay 2 days. Rather pleasant travel ! Keeps this old man happy! :)
Right after hooking up to the FHU's it sprinkled for 1/2 hr. Washed the windows for me! We can look to our SW and see the majestic peaks, some with snow, of the Rocky Mountains. WOW, what a view.
I checked the 10 day weather forecast and it looks like it's gonna get hot. Must be time to move further North in 2 days. Gotta keep chasing 75F as long as we can!
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY! Charlie & Heather.
Really bad/slow internet connection today. Aggravating! So, rather than frustrating myself I'll just say hi to y'all and try again tomorrow.
Pictures say a thousand words, if they'll post !! LOL
1 Nite here in Wheatland, Wy RV Campground. Headed out in the A.M.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather.
Wow! It's hard to realize we've been here for 8 days!
Woke up to a really nice day. Had all the windows and door open by 0900.
I think I told ya we bought a used stove about 2 weeks ago at Bernies RV repair. This morning we decided to install it. I was gonna wait til we got to Montana but today was the day.
First we had to unload the old stove. We seem to store stuff anywhere we can and since the oven is a space, of course it's full. I'd kinda looked it over so I knew where it was screwed in to.
It only took about 20 minutes to remove the old stove. Heather cleaned up the area and new stove. We carried the new stove in and about a 1/2 hr later we had a new tested used stove. Total cost? $175 WOO-HOO !!
I noticed this Elks lodge has a metal recycle area so getting rid of the old stove was a snap.
After a clean up and nap we took a hike into Evergreen and checked out downtown by foot.
Lots of shops and touristy things. (not for me). Our friend Carl, in Florida, used to live in this area so we checked out some of his suggestions.
Very small and quaint little town. They have a rodeo parade and happening this weekend and the town is busy preparing for it. Tomorrow the Elks Lodge we're staying at has an all day party planned. We'll join in the fun and are looking forward to the good eats they've been prepareing for 3 days.
We'll be pulling out Monday and continueing our trek to Montana weather permitting.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather.
Our "Elks Lodge" campsite is so quiet you can hear yourself think. Of course at my age that really makes it extremely quiet!!
The folks in the lodge have been very cordial. There's a few campers here but no one has been at them since our arrival. We're close enough to town to be able to walk to it but wildlife still walk in the park.
Evergreen has a Rodeo weekend this Saturday and from what we've heard they close off main street and a LOT of people come to it. Better get any running around or shopping done by Friday.
Our friends Red & Lori have been making sure to keep us busy and entertained. Lori has given us the cook's tour of the area and the more we see the prettier it gets. There's something about winding thru the mountains at 6000 ft elevations that presents another awesome view with every curve. Off in the distances are snow capped mountain backdrops no matter which way you look.
I've had my jaw drop so many times and it's wonderful. No picture will ever do it justice.
We were invited to "band practice" last night. RED is a very talented musician, vocalist. His band "Juggernauts" has been together for 2 years and Tuesday night is practice nite. We watched as they practiced and it was fun to hear a song morph to perfection. It takes a lot of time and energy to "get it right" and all the band members have some years of experience to make it happen. They have an internet site with schedules in case anyone is in the area.
www.juggernautrocks.com We highly recommend them.
Last week we "lost" the vented cover on the back of the fridge somewhere before the tow job. I did some internet searches and located one at a salvage yard luckily. $45 + shipping.Now I gotta figure out a schedule so it can be shipped. I might make a temporary cover and wait til we hit Montana to do permanent repairs. You can bet I'll have a safety chain on the new one. Still can't figure out where we lost it.
Saturday this Elks is having a buffet and open house. I betcha we do that. They have a nice patio and outdoor kitchen and it sounds like a good time.
We're booked here til Monday morning and may continue our trek North. Depends on the weather a lot. Gotta keep an eye on the fires in Colorado too. Found a fire tracking map that I'll be checking regularly. Sure don't want to get involved in that danger.
Gonna do some puttering around and check engine timing today and see where the evening leads us. Having a real great time here.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY ! Charlie & Heather
Directly behind my friend Red's house is the Evergreen Elks Lodge. Found out they allow camping, even for non-members, so in order to get a more level spot we moved there. We'll have an electric hookup too. I know the refrigerator will work better level. Makes about a 5 degree difference. We've been having to run the generator a few hours a day to keep the batteries up and run the AC in the afternoon. Nice option!
The plan for today includes a beer run and meeting Red ,after work, and his friend Lori at Cactus Jacks Bar to eat & take in some music. Lori said she'd pick us up and do the driving.
We found out the village has a free dump 3 blocks from the Elks Lodge, it doesn't show up on any of the internet sites I researched.Heard about it from Elk's members. That was beginning to be a concern for us as the only other dump I found via internet was up in Golden,Co. about a 45 minute drive from Evergreen. So as of this morning we took on fresh water at Red's, dumped in town and got settled into a new spot.. YEAHH!!
Met Red & Lori at Cactus Jacks pub. Heard some great music and wandered over to one of Red's friends house. Had a nice evening meeting some new folks and got back to our rig about 10PM.
It's really quiet here and the stars are amazing as there's no light pollution. We can see the mountains around us actually have a few homes way up. The lights at the houses seem to be but dots amongst the trees. I wonder how the owners get so far up there. One house is at the peak of the highest mountaintop. I'm guessing they gotta use a helicopter to get to it!
We decided to take a day off and just veg at camp tomorrow.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather
As I wrote yesterday we spent the night in a motel. Had a fitful night's sleep. Guess my nerves were scrambled by our breakdown. I don't know why though, usually stuff like this is a "take it as it comes" situation.
The repair place, Stevinson Chevrolet in Denver, called about 10AM and said the motorhome started right up this morning and they test drove it 3 miles. They guess it was vapor lock. ( I didn't like the sounds of this!) They sent a car to pick us up. We had to manuever around their tight storage area and rehook to the trailer and many manipulations later we escape their terribly tight parking area.
Decided to drive around Denver a bit to see how it ran. Didn't get 2 miles and felt faltering and hesitation. OH-OH !! Pulled into a body shop and the owner gave me a place to tinker with this problem. Took the doghouse off, looked around, checked all the vacuum lines, noticed the carb has a gas filter on it that hasn't been touched. So much for a full inspection by the dealer. The underbody filter was changed a few weeks ago. There was a little repair shop next door, I managed to sweet talk the mechanic there (most hate working on MH's) into changeing the carb filter. It was pretty dirty too. He had one at his shop, luckily. OKAY, off for another test run. Works fine now. I figure the $80 spent at the Chevy dealer was a waste of time. I will be calling them and giving them a piece of my mind just to make me feel better. (of course that may be dangerous at my age. Not much mind left...LOL)
Headed South on 470 from Denver. Exit West to Evergreen via hwy 74. Mountain views were gorgeous, the road was very windy with rock outcroppings about 2 ft from the mirrors. Speed limits and warning signs posted keeps everyone down to 20 to 25 MPH.
Ahhh, my kinda speeds finally. The inclines on this route aren't too bad and we arrived in Evergreen about 2PM, took a quick drive thru town.
Very busy place and not a lot of parking for our rig. Parked at the Elks Lodge and rejoined the Elks while waiting for my friend, Red, to meet us after he's off work at 4PM.
A little after 4 , Red met us and we drove over to his place 2 blocks away. Now we're moochdocked at his house. This will be Camp #36. Way up in the mountains with spectacular views! WOW !!
We all went to town tonite and Happy Houred at Captain Jacks, ate dinner and visited some of his friends, wrapped up the evening back at his house catching up on the last 5 years. Way too late we retired to the rig. Should be a good nights sleep.
Hope y'all are at peace too!
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY. Charlie & Heather.
