A Wet & Dreary Week

05/15/2016

The week started out bright and sunny with highs around 55. The days have been breezy but it hasn't been "rock the coach" windy yet. We spent last Monday touring Zion National Park. The scenery was spectacular and the pics do it no justice whatsoever. The day was beautiful and warm. Kathy did fantastic hiking the trails and even had the rest of us trying to keep up with her on the trail to Weeping Rock! Her recent back surgery has made a positive impact on her health.

  

Tuesday we woke up and pointed the rigs towards Prov, UT to spend the night in the Lakeside RV Park. It had plenty of green grass and lots of trees which meant we didn't have satellite so no TV for us this night. After arriving at the campground we ran over to American Fork about 20 minutes away to go pick up a couple of holsters I'd ordered online from StealthGear. I really like the IWC (inside waist concealed) hip holster but the IWC abdominal carry holster is going to take some getting used to. A quick stop at Walmart to replenish supplies before returning back to the coaches and a few hours of trying to watch over-the-air digital TV. I could only get one channel to work without losing the signal so it was old reruns for the night.

Wednesday morning dawned bright and sunny so we left the Lakeside RV Campground and headed towards Pocatello, Idaho where we found an OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) staging area we were able to setup camp for the night. It was situated back off the main road about 3 miles in the hills and had picnic tables, nice vault toilets and a parking lot large enough to pull into without having to unhook the car and tow dolly. That's a big thing when you're total length front to back is 64 feet!  We had a few visitors in the late afternoon who came in and unloaded dirt bikes to go riding up in the hills. One guy I talked to told me they were able to ride so far back in the hills they were up in the snow and pine trees. It sounded like they had a very large area to ride in. He had grown up in Orange County, CA and we discussed some of the "then and now" scenarios. I told him he should just stay in Idaho. It was less traffic and crime than what he remembered. We had a steak dinner with corn on the cob BBQ'd by Michael and Sara before watching a little TV and turning in for the night.

Camped at OHV site

Look close....The little white specks are sheep!

Thursday morning we awoke to the blaring of sheep off in the distance. I walked outside to see one lonely cowboy with his dog tending the flock about 1/4 mile away up on the hillside. We had breakfast, loaded up and headed down the highway for Dillon, MT and an RV Campground called Countryside RV. A very clean, quiet, well-kept RV campground just south of Dillon. We arrived with the wind and got settled in before it started raining.

Friday morning we woke to cloudy skies and cool temps. I haven't worn a heavy winter jacket since January but I sure needed one today. We were headed to Bannack, MT. Bannack is an old mining ghost town and complete with most of the original buildings. It was a very interesting place to tour and with the help of our History buff Michael, we learned way more than if we'd gone alone. Sara carried the tour information and kept us informed of who, what and why for every building we entered or saw. That afternoon we headed into Dillon for lunch at Sparky's Garage. An old mechanic's garage turned into a diner. Inside were road signs, gas signs, 5 gallon oil cans with the bottoms cut out for hanging lights, an old truck where the bed was made to seat people at a table with benches and what we thought was an old Nash Rambler perched over the bathrooms. It was a mechanic's shop turned sports bar! The food was pretty darn good too!

Kathy in the window

Old carriage

Sunday we packed up and headed for Itch-Kep-Pe Park in Columbus, MT for an overnight stay. Along the way we encountered rain and snow. It was a miserable nasty day to travel but needed in order to get where we want to be. The park has over 30 spaces for RV's to park overnight. It is full of trees and situated alongside the Yellowstone River. We went all the way to the back and found 2 long pull-thru's that were fairly level. We walked around in the sprinkling rain down by the river and back so we could get some pics of the area. We had a quick dinner, watched a few hours of TV and headed to bed early. Note: When we know we are going to have days coming up that we will be boondocking without hookups Kathy prepares the meals ahead of time so all we have to do is heat things up. It makes it easier to fix dinner and clean up is easy.

School House

Michael & Sara on the Merry-Go-Round

Tonight we are at a Walmart in Sheridan, WY before heading off to Sturgis, SD tomorrow. Gonna be funny seeing Sturgis without a million other bikes around. This should be interesting..