Week Nineteen and beyond~ Alaska Trip August 14-21

                   Eureka MT to Pincher Creek Alberta to Montana

Sunday morning we were ready to head on down the road from Libby MT. We traveled back on Route 37 north toward Eureka MT. We had done part of this road last week. It was a beautiful drive. After the Libby Dam there was Lake Koocanusa which runs beside Route 37 all the way to the Canadian Border and beyond before it becomes a river again. It provided some beautiful views and made for a memorable drive.

At this point there were people all over the rock formation to the left. They were climbing this outcropping of rock to take pictures and to get a better view. Not me!! Made my stomach funny just to see them out there.
We traveled to Eureka MT where we had made a reservation by phone for the night. We pulled into a campground that had the same name as the one I had called, to find out it wasn’t. This one was not an RV park, but a trailer park. So, we unhooked and went searching. Phil even went to the local Police Department and they had never heard of the campground. They called the campground number for us and the number was not a working number. So, we settled into their small city park to boondock for the night, $5.00 fee. It was a nice little park right by the river and there was a small museum and such next door.









We had a good time watching the locals enjoy the river and the park. There were also two couples tenting in the park. When we got up the next morning we discovered that a truck had pulled in after we went to bed and they had strung up three hammocks for sleeping. What they DIDN’’T know was that the sprinklers to water the grass come on automatically in the morning. We got the windshield of the truck washed, but they got a little more! They were rudely awakened by their uninvited morning shower and quickly packed up to leave!
We were not far behind them, heading north to Canada again. This time we were heading through British Columbia to Alberta for the Chapter 44 Escapee Rally. Again, we encountered some gorgeous scenery along the way.

 
The most remarkable site that we encountered was after Crowsnest Pass, known as Frank’s Slide. In 1903 there was a tremendous avalanche that buried most of the town of Frank in about 100 seconds. Somewhere between 70 to 90 people were lost. All of the granite boulders are still there and there is little to no vegetation growing in the area.

I would encourage you to just do a Google Search on Frank’s Slide, Alberta Canada and read about it.





You really need to see the site in person to begin to comprehend the vast area of devastation that took place. The Canadian government is still monitoring the mountain because it is still considered to be unstable. It makes me think back to all of the areas that we have driven through that were labeled ‘Slide area, do NOT stop!’.

We arrived at Pincher Creek just after noon and set up. We then went up to register for the rally and the fun began! We had a wonderful week of food, fun and fellowship with people that we did not know, but soon they all became good friends. We were at Heritage Acres in Alberta. There was a museum on site and there was lots of interesting things to see. Cars, tractors, a grain elevator, windmill, etc.  Check out the Picasa Web album to see all the pictures of neat things.
 

 

It was Chapter 44’s Fifteenth Anniversary so we were treated to a delicious Anniversary Dinner with Prime Rib and all the fixin’s. There was entertainment. The next night we feasted on leftovers and there was entertainment again. On Friday morning the gentlemen treated the ladies to a Hitch Up Breakfast. The ladies all dress up, including hats, and the gentlemen escort us to the tables and serve us coffee and breakfast. The men also did all of the cleanup. What a treat.

Maitre D and waiter…..








Thankfully I had a hat and boa with me! What fun.
We soon gave SKP hugs all around and began the next leg of our journey.









We ventured toward  Saskatchewan, but spent another night in Alberta. We found a campground in Medicine Hat that had Wifi, so that we could check email and see what was happening in the rest of the world. We had a super dinner at a buffet nearby that had both Chinese and American food. The next day we did travel into Saskatchewan and down into Montana. As we traveled south toward the US border from Swift Current, the road just kept getting more narrow and poorly maintained. We wondered several times if we had somehow gotten on the wrong road, but that would be difficult because there was only ONE road. We traveled very slowly and had no problems. There were only a few farms on the whole stretch of road. One has to wonder where these people shop and send their kids to school. They were truly in the BOONDOCKS!
We stayed at a small RV park in Malta MT. We had encountered a plague of grasshoppers and the front of the RV was COVERED. Phil (and everyone else that pulled into the campground) spent quite a bit of time cleaning the windshield and the front of the rig. What a job. The next day we traveled to Billings MT. Whoopee! They had a Sam’s Club.
We traveled on until we settled in Buffalo WY for two nights. This will give us time to catch our breath, do laundry and get ready for the Escapade.  We are looking forward to seeing a lot of friends and making some new ones.


Montana and Wyoming are pretty much high plains. There is a lot of hay and grass area for cattle to feed on. The mountains in the distance look like they have been painted on the sky.
  
Heading toward Gillette Wyoming and nine days of Escapee fun. I’ll keep you posted in a while……

Week Eighteen~Alaska Trip August 7-14

                              Kalispell MT to Libby MT
              SOMETHING OTHER THAN MOUNTAINS
                                 AND RIVERS!
We had a good week while we were in Kalispell MT. Sunday was our  46th Wedding Anniversary and our son Craig’s 41st birthday. Yes, he was our 5th Anniversary gift, one that we have never been able to top! Our week was up in Kalispell so we packed up and moved on. We had a lovely drive of about 90 west to Libby MT. No particular reason that we picked Libby, it just looked interesting.
Libby is a lovely little western town. It is called the ‘City of Eagles’. So, we went to the Visitor’s Center to see where the eagles were and how we could spot them. WELL, two local residents have made several metal sculptures of eagles and they are displayed all over town, so now it is ‘a City of Eagles’. The sculptures and murals around town are awesome. Double click on any picture to enlarge it.
    
With all the beautiful scenery in Alaska there was very little landscaping or yard flowers around. It is pleasant to be back in the lower  48 where people decorate their yards and streets.
They like to put a lot of things up in the air here as well.
       We are in a lovely RV park with a train nearby (of course). On Monday we took a drive up Route 37 toward Eureka. We will be taking that road on Sunday when we leave here, so Phil wanted to check out the road conditions for the RV. It turned out to be a very nice road. We only drove up about twenty miles. We were traveling beside the Kootenai River. There is a dam built by the Army Corps of Engineers that was quite impressive.
  

  







We couldn’t get it all in one picture. Then we drove up to view the dam from the top.
The scenery here in Montana is lovely. We had a good trip back.

OK, I had to give you at least ONE picture of mountains and rivers didn’t I??
Tuesday I spent on the computer, doing some web page work for DKG and also finishing the August edition of the Chapter 20 Newsletter. With that done, I will be able to concentrate on my work for the Escapade when we get there.
Wednesday we headed west into Idaho, just for fun. We followed the Kootenai River in the other direction and came to the falls.

This was still in Montana, then we arrived in Idaho and made our way south and east to the  Lake Pend Oreille. This is one BIG LAKE.
                                           Forgive me, I must educate:
Lake Pend Oreille is a lake in the northern Idaho Panhandle, with a surface area of 148 square miles (380 km²). It is 65 miles (105 km) long, and 1,150 feet (350 m) deep in some regions, making it the fifth deepest in the United States. It is fed by the Clark Fork River and the Pack River, and drains via the Pend Oreille River. It is surrounded by national forests and a few small towns, with the largest population on the lake at Sandpoint. All but the southern tip of the lake is in Bonner County. The southern tip is in Kootenai County and is home to Farragut State Park, formerly the Farragut Naval Training Station during World War II.


When we arrived at the Idaho/Montana border there was a dam that was started in the 1940’s and completed in the early 1950’s.
   This was impressive to see. The power of water is always very daunting to me.
The drive back up to Libby was pleasant. We had a dry, sunny day. Up in the 80’s but there is little humidity here. They could use a little rain.

Well, it is Wednesday evening and we don’t have much planned for the rest of the week. I’ll update this blog if we do anything interesting! All the photos will not make it to the Picasa Web Album for another day or so. My account is full (can you imagine??!) so I had to purchase more storage. When they have updated my account, I will add all of the latest pictures.
See ya!

Week Seventeen~Alaska Trip August 1-7

                                        Kallispell, Montana

We have settled into Glacier Pines RV Park quite nicely. The first couple of days we spent resting, doing errands and making plans. On Wednesday we took a trip through Glacier National Park.
We did not take the Red Bus Tour because we had errands to do when we got to the other side.
  The beginning of the ride was lovely but the views were difficult from the truck because the road is so tree lined on each side. There are plenty of pull offs so that you can read the signs and take plenty of pictures. We first saw McDonald Lake and falls.

  

 

Soon we started to climb UP and UP the mountain. The views were great.

Looking back down on where we have been…. 

There was a lot of construction but no one seemed to mind because it gave time to get out of the car and take some pictures and stretch.

I took about 200 pictures and weeded out some. I am not going to try to caption them all on the Picasa Album, just let the slide show go and travel through the park with us. There are views of glaciers and waterfalls everywhere. Unlike Jasper and Bannff, you don’t drive between the  mountains, but UP AND UP and through the mountains.

We saw mountain goats and a moose  

Saint Mary Lake going out was also beautiful.

To our surprise, when we got to St. Mary and tried to find a Post Office, we were shocked to find out that they did not have one! We had had two mail packages sent here. OOPS! We needed to rethink that! We initially thought they might have been returned to sender.

The next morning I did some sleuthing by phone. I called the St.Mary Lodge, because they do handle some mail. NOPE. She  suggested that I call Bapp. NOPE. He suggested that I call Browning PO. YEPPER! They had our packages. WHEW! So we drove through Glacier again and went to Browning to get our mail.

No, this is not the Post Office, but the common in Browning. We retrieved our mail and had an interesting drive back to Kalispell.

The land of the BIG SKY and wide open spaces! We will be here in Montana again next week, we just haven’t decided exactly where.
Glacier NP is much like the Canadian Rockies and Alaska. If you have the time just go to the Picasa Album and let it play. I wish I had a panoramic lens on my camera so that you could really get the feel of the majesty of the land. It is God’s country…….