September 8, 2018

   Meghan and I left Colorado Springs the end of June, and arrived Boise, ID in time for the 4th of July.  I was there to revisit friends Walter and Sabrina, formerly of Colorado Springs, and to see Walter’s parents, Roy and Judy, once again.  It was a good reunion, and I happened to have picked a wonderfully casual, rural and laid back RV Park, Country Corners RV Park, Sand Hollow, ID to stay at.  I didn’t take many pictures, but one day, Walter and I took a trip into the Owyhee area in Oregon, I think it was Leslie Gulch, and we both got grand pictures of rock formations illuminated by reflected afternoon sunlight.

     Departing Boise after the 4th, I drove north of Kingston, ID and 25 miles into the Coeur D’Alene National Forest to meet with the Escapees Boondockers, a nature-oriented group of dry-camping enthusiasts.  It would have been great, but the heat was oppressive, and on top of that, my refrigerator kept shutting down due to overheating!  After too many days of this, I left early to stop at a nice RV park in Cataldo, ID, right of the banks of the Coeur D’Alene river (Kahnderosa RV Park), where I was able to enjoy my rig’s air-conditioning.  What a relief!

     I then relocated to the Chief Joseph Pass X-C Ski parking lot, in Montana, south of Missoula and Hamilton, at Lost Trail Pass on Route 43.  Meghan and I were alone there, in deep forest, but high atop the mountain pass, where we enjoyed a few days of cool weather.   

     July 24th, we relocated to Homestake Pass, just 5 miles or so east of Butte, MT to rejoin the Boondockers.  Here we were able to enjoy reasonable temperatures in the company of about 16  fellow boondockers for three weeks.  We had nightly campfires, plus frequent trips to town for groceries, vehicle maintenance and for nightly dining.  Also, when I was having problems with my fridge, I had looked up information on Paul of the ARP Company who make a device to prevent overheating of propane refrigerators, and discovered his homebase is in Butte.  So once I arrived, I called him immediately looking for a referral to a local repair person who could try to fix my problem.  Instead, he said he and his wife would be out that afternoon!  They worked on my fridge a couple hours, fixing a problem with insulation that was overlaying the cooling fins behind the fridge (NOT good!), plus diagnosed and fixed a problem with my ARP unit’s temperature sensor, and installed an update!  And the fridge has been performing much better since them.  Additionally, they came out a week later to our group’s afternoon social gathering, presented information on their ARP unit, got several takers, and started installations that very afternoon.  Everyone I’ve talked to has been favorably impressed with the performance of their refrigerators since then.

    One thing I noticed at Homestake Pass that I’ve never seen before was one camper (not in our group) who brought their chickens with them!  I hear they got 2 to 3 eggs each day - bound to be good eggs, but the hassle would be too much for me.

     On the 14th of August, Meghan and I  plus two other campers relocated to a dry camping site beside the Lake Fork Creek Road south of Red Lodge, MT.  This is in a very attractive mountainous area, at an elevation of approximately 6768 feet.  We were eventually joined by about 7 other RV’s for a total of about 18 to 20 people.  We again enjoyed pleasant temperatures for the most part (although we did have a couple nights of 33 degree temps), and some rainy spells.  Plus we had our afternoon gab fests, sightseeing trips, dining out in Red Lodge, and our nightly campfire.  Definitely a “do again” site!

     When I went to leave Red Lodge, the slide-out in my trailer didn't want to retract, grinding and slipping repeatedly, and I was highly concerned as my friends had already left, but finally, finally, after repeatedly stopping and manually pulling each end of the slide inward, I at last got it fully retraced.  But what to do?  I was out of phone contact, so couldn't call the factory, so I just packed it up and pulled out, resolved to try to call them later down the road.

    Well, I stopped at Cody, WY to call, but the line was busy so I left a message.  Tried again at Meeteetse, WY - line busy, left another message.  Continued to Casper, WY where I camped at the very nice Rivers Edge RV Park - called again, got the office, but the maintenance chief was out of his office, so asked them to give him the message to call me - which never happened.  Finally, I got ahold of him the next morning, told him the problem and made an appointment to be at the factory in Junction City, KS Monday, September 10.  OK, that's done, now how do I get there?

     Since I had plenty of time, I decided to take a leisurely route, revisiting the Nebraska Sand Hills via US Hwy 2, but first driving along US Hwy 26 by Scotts Bluff and Bridgeport, Nebraska, where I paused to visit Chimney Rock National Monument.

     Unfortunately, the Visitor Center is about 1/4 mile from the formation, and one can't walk up to the Monument, but at least this provides some protection from modern souvenir hunters.

    Here's the URL of an interesting site regarding travel on the Oregon Trail passing Chimney Rock, and on the 1,955 pounds of supplies they had to carry in each family's wagon.  Just imagine what 200 pounds of beans would do for you!   Plus, it includes the Original Name given to the rock...   https://www.postcardsfromsurprisingplaces.com/home/chimney-rock-the-oregon-trails-most-famous-landmark

     That night I dry camped somewhere east of Hyannis, NE on a section of the old and unused Hwy 2 that in places still parallels the new Hwy 2.  This put me immediately adjacent to the railroad which had very frequent fully loaded coal trains heading east and returning trains of empty cars returning west, but they didn't disturb me at all.  I slept soundly all night and was up early the next morning for a fresh start.

    The next night saw me in Ellis, KS at their nice city park (E and W) for $20.  And showers!

    I left the next morning for a 3 hour drive to Junction City, and all was well, but when I arrived, TROUBLE!  I had gone inside to let them know I was there and would be staying over the weekend, then when I returned to the trailer, I immediately saw there was a large and open crack at the upper righthand corner of the front of the trailer, exactly where one had developed 2 or 3 years ago.  And it wasn't there when I departed Ellis!  So I covered it with duct tape, and come Monday I'll discuss it with the maintenance folks and have that added to the list of things to fix.  I might even get everything done, as there is no one else waiting currently.  

    Wish me luck!

    I hope all is well with everyone,

   Bill and Meghan