Paws and Friends

One of the reasons we enjoy traveling around this great country of ours is the unique experience found in small towns. We have four such experiences to share from our travels in July through Montana and North Dakota.. Experience #1: White Sulphur Springs, MT , is east of Helena on US 12. We found a nice enough park in Conestoga Campground, a Passports America park, on the edge of town. We would definitely return to this campground. Walking from the campground into town we could see a stone "castle-like" building on a hill, and found two very intriguing  older homes. We were encouraged to take the tour of this Victorian era  castle from the office at the RV Park, so we did! We had a great guide who was born and raised in the town, and who had returned to her home town after retirement. She is active on the county historical board, thus her "positioning" as our tour guide this afternoon! And the Castle is now the Meagher County Museum . We were able to t...

Today has been a loading up the bicycles day, dumping and stowing the poop tube and holder day, putting away the large patio mat day.... To sum it all up, getting ready to depart day! Tomorrow we leave Northland RV Park for Houghton, MI, where we will spend three weeks. All this based on the recommendations and adventures of friends Bob and Jo of How to Love Where You Are and Eat Where the Locals Eat!   We are pumped! We have stacks of emails from Bob and Jo with all their recommendations....(well, not exactly "stacks"--but we have lots of excellent recommendations from them!) We are ready to LOVE where we will be in Houghton, eating where the locals eat. How much weight do you think we will gain?! Place your bets now!  We have enjoyed our six days here, exploring the North and South shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We drove up to The Apostle Islands on the south shore--and want to return. On the north shore we drove up to Two Harbors, and want to return...

  Here we are in Minnesota! (And you have to say it "Min ne a so ' ta! (Well, only if you are a Swede!) And it is a grand park! We are in Country Campground, south of Detroit Lakes, with 30 sites, which are grassy/hard parked dirt, with a concrete patio and picnic table at each site. We have 50 amps, water, sewer and cable. We are receiving our satellite signals, depending on the rain.... Rain did chase us here. In fact, we debated leaving Jamestown, ND as a storm was coming, potentially severe. We talked to our neighbors there, from Wisconsin, who shared two different thoughts. 1)  He didn't think the storm would be too severe; and 2) He would MUCH rather be at a park than drive in a storm...!  We decided that we could go on, and probably be at our site before the storm hit....Both of us were a little edgy as we drove down the road. We got fuel at Fargo, noticing once again the black clouds to the west. We made it, and were almost set up when the rain came, and...

Error messages demand attention. But for readers of our blog, you will recall our first experience with an error message, resulting in a mistake in the computer software....so we did ignore the first time "Coolant Level Low" came up, as we traveled from Polson down US 93 to I-90. And yes, we did notice a very slight rise in the engine temperature--a never before occurrence in our travels with this coach. The second time the message appeared, Mike took it seriously. She found a shop with a Cummins engine sign, and pulled off US 93 there. They were busy, but a tech did come out to the rig and noticed that a special coolant was required, one he did not have. He recommended a freightliner shop a couple of exits away on I-90, so off we went. We pulled into I State Truck Center, Missoula, and met with Derick, a service advisor. He advised a two hour express assessment, and suggested we pile into the toad and enjoy lunch, etc. So we did--finding a Costco for shopping--we ha...

Wildhorse Island seen through the trees  We enjoyed our four hour cruise on the waters of Flathead Lake in our rented, 20 foot in-board/out-board motor boat. But we wanted to see more of this gorgeous lake, so Tuesday, July 15, we drove from our RV park east and north around the lake on MT 35.  Our goals were simple:  pictures, particularly of Wild Horse Island, find some local cherries, and have fun! Of the several state parks along the lake we stopped at two:  one on the eastern shore then one almost directly opposite on the western shore. In Eastern shore, Yellow Bay State Park between these two state parks Lindy asked Mike to stop and Lindy snapped pictures, and we found cherries! West Shore State park We stopped and bought a bag of delicious bing cherries. Later, still on the eastern shore, we stopped at Bowman Orchards , just south of Bigfork. We left with delicious fudge (and of course, it was made with cherries), and two kinds of wine:  pl...

In Polson, MT  Currently 81, feels like 80  (YEA!!)    High:  81   Low:  55 What does "Three Dog Down" mean? Are three dogs down? Why are they down?  Oh! Three Dog Down has down comforters, and the number "three" relates to the level of comfort one receives from a down comforter with a "Three Dog" rating! Just right for the COLD Montana winters!  We just HAD to check this store/factory out! And yes, it is a factory, making comforters and duvets here in Polson. Can you believe it? In little ole' Polson, Montana! They have: Down Comforters Pillows Coats Robes Slippers And Unique and Eclectic items too, including Salty Dog's Salt Water Taffy! AND:  Adventure Tours And did we have fun "shopping" and chatting with the owner! "Click" for link to Tours In front of their shop, they have a 35 foot-long Vietnam-era amphibious military vehicle aptly names "Happy Hippo". Read about these tours in the Happy Hi...

Polson, MT  Currently 85   Feels like 83  High:  93   Low:  59 What a day to spend part of it on one of the most beautiful, pristine lakes in the northwest! Flathead Lake is located in the center of the Flathead Valley bordered by the Mission Mountains to the east and Glacier National Park to the north. It is 28 miles long and 15 miles wide making it the largest freshwater lake west of thee Mississippi, with over 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of shoreline. There are many islands that dot Flathead Lake, the most notable being Wildhorse Island. Wildhorse Island is a primitive state park that encompasses 2,162 acres and is the home to native wildlife such as bighorn sheep, mule deer, bald eagles, osprey and even the namesake, wild horses. View Larger Map We wanted to explore the lake, and take Rupert with us, and Flathead Boat Company , Boat Rental Specialists fit the bill! We rented a 20 foot inboard-outboard boat for four hours, with the pl...