Trip Update

On our way home we experienced a blowout on the trailer.  It did $3500 damage.  I am very conscious of the importance of maintaining trailer tires properly.  I had new tires on it.  I check my tire pressures everyday before travel to be sure none are soft.  At every gas stop I  feel each tire and hub for excess heat while looking at general condition of the tires.  I never exceed the maximum speed rating of the tires which is 65 mph.

We were in Kansas on I-70 traveling at 62 mph.  Temperature was in excess of 100.  I had just gassed up and made my inspection of the tires and hubs.  All looked good.  The tire exploded a few minutes after leaving the gas station.  It looked as though someone took a hatchet and chopped the tire in two.
The tire dealer said it looked like damage from an impact.  I hadn't run over any curbs or hit any big pot holes as I recall but the Pilot gas station I had stopped at had huge holes all over the parking lot cause by trucks.  Maybe with the tires hot from the road and driving over these holes damage was done although I did go very slowly over them.

The blowout ripped off the sewer connection.  All the gray water dumped on the road.  Fortunately, the black tank value remained intact or I would have had a big mess.  A trooper who witnessed the blowout stopped to be sure we could get help and make sure our truck was running and we had water.    With the temperature over 100 he wanted to be sure we would be ok sitting along the road waiting for help.  I would never try to change a tire with traffice flying by at speeds well in excess of the speed limit.  I called road service.  They came out with a truck with emergency lights that helped move people over into the other lane.  Some jerks still flew by just inches away from him.  I was very nervous but he didn't seem to mind.

This really spoiled the rest of the trip home.  It dampened our spirits on traveling across country with a travel trailer again.  We saw many trailers and 5th wheels on our trip with blowouts.  ST tires just don't seem to hold up like truck or car tires do.  I can't imagine car and truck tires blowing out this often.  They have to endure high heat and pot holes but seem to be better made.  With everything made in China today who knows what kind of quality control there is on products made there.

My insurance covered the repairs.  I had to pay my $500 deductible.   I took the trailer to North Trail RV in Ft. Myers, Florida for repairs.  They did a very good job.  The trailer looks like new.  They told me they are seeing a very large increase in blowout damage in the past few years.  They said it isn't only travel trailers but large Class A units also.

Heading Home

We left Perry's RV park this morning.  We enjoyed our stay there even though we had to wait for a part for the hitch.  The owners were very nice people.  They held a spot open for us until they knew we had all our repairs made.  I would stay there again.  The park has many sites along Rock Creek.  The creek is a very vigorous flowing stream this time of year with all the snow melt.  Our campsite was not near the stream.  I don't sleep well in deep valleys with streams.  Too many times there have been flash floods during the night.  In some cases people have been swept away.

We hit the road playing one of our favorite gospel albums.  We seldom listen to music.  We like the peace and quiet but today we felt like some spiritual inspiration.  We sang along and felt so blessed to be able to do what we do.  It has been a blessing to see and do so many things the past few years.  God has been good to us.

We passed right by the Battle of the Little Big Horn Memorial.  You know, where Custer got sacked by all those Indians.  It is in the middle of the Crow Reservation which seems quite fitting.  Custer was not a nice guy.  His big head cost the lives of many good men.  I wanted to stop and tour the Memorial as I am a history buff now.  Darlie wasn't so eager to stop.  It was too hot to leave the dogs in the truck and she didn't want to spend the night nearby so I could go.  I was disappointed but maybe I will get this way again.

Our plan has been to take a loop around Colorado before heading back home.  We changed that plan today.  We are tired.  The dogs are tired.  We miss the comfort of home.  Buster hasn't been eating very well.   He has lost some weight.  He vomits a few times a week.  I think it is nerves.  I think he misses home too.  Last night the dogs got an unusual treat though.  A small herd of deer walked right through our campsite.  They went nuts.  What were these strange beasts.

Red Road

We traveled I-90 to I-25.  Eastern Wyoming is very BORING.  There is no nice scenery.  No buildings, cows or other animals just rolling dirt piles with scrawny brush on them.  It was hot too, 95 degrees.  No humidity like Florida though.

Tonight we are in Casper, WY.  We will try to make it home by next weekend.  It all depends on how long I feel like I can drive.  The plains are very boring too.  I wish I could put it on auto pilot and sleep across Kansas.  

For those who may be interested, here is a video showing what has happened to our hitch.  One of the outstanding features of a Hensley hitch is its tight turning radius of 82 degrees, almost a jackknife.

If I turn tighter than that the Hensley is designed to save itself by allowing a bracket to slide on the frame rail.  The bracket didn't slide as it should so I bent my strut.  Hensley has a lifetime warranty on all parts of their hitches so they replaced it free of charge.  Watch the video to understand just what happened.

The weather here in Red Lodge is very predictable each day.  The mountains behind us produce their own weather.  It is sunny and bright every morning but by about 1:30pm  big black clouds begin to form over the mountain tops.  Soon it is blowing and raining.  Sometimes there is hail thrown in.  Within a few hours the sun is back out again.  The soil is so sandy here nothing stays wet for long.
The weather reminds me of our summer thunderstorms back in Florida.  You can count on them about the same time everyday.

We finally received our replacement strut for the hitch.  It is now 2:00pm.  Too late to start out so we will stay another night here and get an early start tomorrow.  The people who own this campground have been very helpful and gracious.  They made sure we had a spot tonight if our part didn't arrive on time.  They book solid on weekends so that was real nice of them.

When we stopped these goats started running towards the truck.  Do you suppose people feed them?

If it hadn't started raining, I would take Darlie down to a dude ranch for a horseback ride.  She has wanted to do that.  I guess that will have to wait until next trip.  She is in taking a nap now anyhow so I doubt she would want to interrupt that.

Darlie wanted you to see the baby goat.

Last night we went to the Carbon County Steakhouse.  Darlie wanted some good western beef.
The restaurant was very nice and the food was tasty however, I think I get a better steak at Texas Longhorn Steakhouse in Ft. Myers.  I had a ribeye that was pretty chewy for the cut.  Darlie had a NY strip.  The steaks were flavorful but chewy.  They last longer that way though and you burn calories while you eat.  You know, with all the chewing.

Mountain Lake

The night before we went to the recommended Red Lodge Cafe for some home cooking.  Be both got the daily special, chicken fried steak.......why haven't I learned after all these years?  The steaks were burnt on one side.  I think the cook forgot to flip them.  They smothered the burnt side with dark gravy as though that would hide it.  We should have sent it back.  We choked it down and regretted it later.  So much for home cooking.

There is a steady stream of motorcycles going by the campground headed for the twists and turns of Beartooth Pass.  I would love to ride mine up over there.  Darlie said she would go with me.  It is too scary.  There is a motorcycle shop in town called Bone Daddy's custom motorcycles.  I wonder if he rents them?

I will put a few more photos of our ride up the Beartooth just to add some color.  We have spent the day here waiting for our part.  Now it's raining so I doubt we will do much else today.......unless of course we head to town for more home cooking.

Bad to Worse

Wow! How fast a fun day can turn into a bad day.  We met a guy who used to live in Red Lodge, MT. He asked if we have ever been there.  We hadn't.  He said we needed to drive the Bear Tooth Pass into  Yellowstone.  The scenery is fantastic.

We were headed back East but decided to detour to Red Lodge.  We saw a state park on the map and decided to camp there for the night and drive the pass in the morning.  We turned onto a paved county road headed towards the park.  After about 3 miles the pavement turned to washboard dirt and dust.  There was no place to turn around for 15 miles.  The road took a toll on everything.  The camper was a disaster inside.  Cupboards had come open and dumped their contents and it looked like a dust bomb had gone off inside.  Fortunately there was no real damage to the trailer.  However,  the jarring did break a major component of my hitch.  We didn't discover it until we pulled into a campground in Red Lodge.  It is a wonder we made it here.

At the summit.  Mountains in the background are in Yellowstone NP.

53 feet shy of 11,000 feet.

Both of us at the summit.

I called the manufacturer a to see if I could get the part overnighted to me.  They said they could do that.  So hopefully it will arrive here Friday morning so we can get out of here.  This campground is reserved to capacity over the weekend so we have to move one way or the other.  So that makes it a little tense.

Messing in the snow.

Me and Buster messing in the snow.

Lots of snow.

With the part ordered, we decided to take the drive over the Bear Tooth.  I'm so glad we did.  It lifted our spirits.  The mountains were absolutely beautiful.  This is the only entrance to Yellowstone we had not taken.  It is not recommended to drive a motor home over this pass.  With the truck it was a piece of cake.  

Very friendly mountain goats.

Darlie was snapping pictures the whole way.  A photo just can't capture the scene though.  You have to witness it.  On our way back, the skies over the mountains turned black and it began to rain and hail.  The weather changes very rapidly here.  

Hmmmmm.  Mountain wisdom.

The kids are missing home.  You can see it in their eyes.  They are tired of riding and living in these cramped quarters.  Mom and Dad are getting tired too so I guess when we get things fixed we will head home.  It has been fun.  We saw and experienced things we had missed on past trips.  We have left a few unexplored places just in case we are crazy enough to do this again next year.

One last view of the mountains.

Bummer of a Day

We decided to leave our beautiful campground and go up to see Virginia City, Nevada City and Ruby mountain area.   The route we followed was close to one followed by Lewis and Clark.  We came to what is known as The Beaver Head.  It was named by the Shoshone Indians because it resembles a beaver swimming with it's head out of water.  Sacajawea, who was traveling as a guide to the expedition, recognized the landmark from her childhood.  She and another native girl were kidnapped at the age of 16 by another tribe in the east.  She told Lewis that her people lived in the valley of the beaver head.  It was here she met her brother who had become chief.  It was a joyful reunion and a beneficial one to the expedition as her brother supplied them with horses for the rest of the journey.

It is a neat experience to stand where such notable people in our history once stood.
In later years a stagecoach station occupied this spot.

We stopped at what looked like a nice campground from the road.  I paid for one night.  We didn't think we would find that much of interest around here.  When we got to our campsite we were very unimpressed.  Campers were packed in so tightly when I opened my pickup door it was under the awning of the camper next to us.  Fortunately the folks were friendly.  I would not recommend this place though it is typical of many places with a tourist trap nearby.  

Virginia City and Nevada City are nothing like Bannock.  They are jam packed with tourist and tourist trap attractions.  The streets were filled with people browsing tee shirt shops and gift shops.  

We drove through, turned around and drove back.  Virginia City and Nevada City are only a mile and a half apart.  They were gold rush towns that sprung up when gold was discovered in Alder Gulch.  They had a wild history like most of these places.  Stories about who shot who and things like that.

The place looked very staged compared to Bannock.  

We drove back to Nevada City.  Darlie insisted we stop somewhere to eat.  So we did.  Another mistake.  We stopped at the Star Restaurant.  They had a 4th of July special going on.  You had your choice of a hotdog, hamburger or pulled pork sandwich with potato salad for just $9.50.  Darlie got the burger.  It was one of those formed things you get in a box in the freezer section.  I had the pulled pork.  It was about 2 ounces of pork on a hamburger bun.  We each had iced tea which was $2.25 per glass.  We both belched for the rest of the afternoon.  

Yuck!

As we drove out of town we saw the only authentic looking building alongside the road.  It had piles of junk piled around it and lots of cut lumber that looked like it was set out to age.  I suppose so they could build more authentic buildings.  

Once a nice place.

We spent the rest of the day here at the campground visiting with neighbors.  I made us a nice grilled steak dinner and it didn't cost $23.00 either.  We looked at the map trying to decide where to head next.  I guess we will go east a bit and then drop down to Colorado for awhile.  That could change very quickly though so stay tuned.

Found one

Crystal Park

Today we went to crystal park.  It is a piece of land located in National Forest land.  It is open to the public to dig for crystals.  We had never done anything like that before so we thought it would be fun.

I stopped at the hardware store to buy a small shovel, a hand rake, gloves and a screen box to shake the dirt out of the stones.

The miner

The ride out to the park is 42 miles from our campground.  The road passes through some of the most scenic countryside in southwestern Montana.  The fields and woods were covered with wildflowers.  

As we wound our way up the mountain, the temperature dropped several degrees.  It has been very mild here with very low humidity.  Even temperatures in the mid 80s is very pleasant.  On top of the mountain it was 74.  

The mole

Wildflowers

One drawback of the crystal park is the hordes of misquitos that inhabit the area.  They are so thick  you can hardly breathe.  We wore long pants and shirts as we had been warned.  We took a can of deep woods Off with us too.  With a heavy application of bug juice they were held at bay but they were ever buzzing around you.

Some of or find

We found some nice crystals.  A couple of them were very nice.  We dug and raked until we were ready to drop.  Neither of us have worked so hard in years.  We were filty.  We looked like two buffalos that just finished rolling in dust.  As we were leaving the park, a young couple with kids passed by us.  We heard her say to her husband, "those peoplle are really into this."  We looked like seasoned veterans for sure.  Little did they know it was our first experience.  I don't know how you would find many without getting dirty.  We did meet one lady you picked up a very large crystal that was just lying on top of th ground.

One of our best finds

Tomorrow we will move up to Alder.  It is the site of another big gold strike in Montana.  There are two very touristy ghost towns in that area;  Nevada City and Virginia City.  We will visit those and check out Ruby Resivour where it is reported that small rubies can be found in the sands along the shoreline.  Hopefully it won't be as dirty adventure.

Another nice one

Bannock State Park

Saturday morning we set out for Bannock State Park.  It is an historic ghost town that has been preserved by the state.  It isn't one of those touristy spots like Virginia City, MT that is filled with the usual tourist trap attractions.  Bannock is in its original condition.  You walk the streets like they did when it was inhabited.  Most of the buildings are open for you to explore.

Main Street

Bannock was the first territorial capitol of Montana.  Abraham Lincoln established the Montana territory in an attempt to bring law and order to the area.  Bannock was first a gold rush town in the frontier.  It drew the usual people seeking to get rich with a gold strike.  Merchants and tradesmen followed.

Site of the first Governors Mansion.  I guess they didn't think too much of him.

The community had a strong Masonic influence.  One of the most striking buildings in town is the Masonic Temple.  The building also housed the school.  The second floor of the building still has the Masonic carpet on the floor that was there when the building was built.  Masons still maintain the temple.  It is closed to the public but you can view the room through the windows.

Masonic Temple and school.

A circuit preacher known as Preacher Van came to the town, walked into the saloon and asked the bartender if he could quiet the place down for a minute.  The bartender whistled and the place when silent.  Preacher Van began to sing a hymn.  Everyone was taken by it.  The bartender said the place was closed for business for one hour while Preacher Van sang and preached.  Entertainment was hard to come by in this remote area so all the patrons were happy for the singing and religion.
Later Preacher Van was instrumental for having the Methodist Church built.

Methodist Church.

The town elected a man by the name of Henry Plummer as sheriff even though he was wanted for murder and had spent a few years in San Quentin prison.  Sheriff Plummer pretty much ran things with a bunch of thugs as deputies.  One day he was in the saloon when a patron was making a big ruckus about something.  Plummer got tired of listening to the argument and shot the guy in cold blood.  The community didn't hold it against him.

The Saloon

He and his deputies were responsible for robberies and other crimes in the area.  Finally a group of vigilantes formed to put an end to the Sheriffs reign of terror.  Sheriff Plummer had built a gallows and a jail house.  The gallows were the only sight prisoners could see out the little window on the jail.
When the vigilantes caught Plummer and his deputies, they hanged him from the gallows he built.  His last request was that they would give him a good drop.

Jailhouse

A county courthouse was built in 1875 but in 1881 the county seat was moved to Dillon.  Dillon had experienced growth and influence when the railroad came though the area.   The Bannock courthouse remained vacant for over ten years until it was bought and converted to a hotel.

County courthouse.  Later the Meade Hotel

Eventually, the gold ran out.  Most people left town but many stayed on.  The town had occupants as late as the 1950s.  Concerned Montanans wanted to preserve the historic town.  Property was bought up and donated to the state as long as the town was kept in its original condition and not turned into a tourist attraction like other nearby ghost towns.

Old mining equipment

Pan old tailings.  Found two specks and a half dozen garnets.

We enjoyed our look into life on the Montana frontier.  We didn't see any ghosts but in your mind you could hear the sounds of a gold rush town in its prime.

Darlie had to visit the dentist at the drug store.

The kids are having a ball.  New smells and adventures.

Kids say howdy.

We left Arco this morning and drove across some of the most boring land I have ever seen.  It was a huge valley that went off into infinity framed by distant mountain peaks.  Darlie searched the landscape for wildlife.  Nothing.   We went through a village (according to the sign) of Reno.  There was nothing there but a large house, a pioneer cemetery and a beautiful village park with a pond, benches, playground and swans swimming on the pond.  Not a soul around anywhere.  Very strange.

We arrived in Dillon around 1:00pm.  We are at Countryside RV park near town.  It is a very beautiful park.  It is packed with the holiday weekend upon us.  I'm glad I made reservations.  I called around to other RV parks for Sunday and Monday but they were all full.  Fortunately, this place has an opening for us so I reserved two more days.

We went into town for lunch.  We found the neatest place.  It is called Sparky's 1950s Garage.  It is decorated with all kinds of memorabilia from the 50s.  It was a very cool place.  One table was in the bed of an old pickup truck.  I had chicken BBQ and Darlie had a gigantic mushroom and Swiss burger.  The food was very good.

We asked our server what things we should see in the area.  She was a local girl and didn't think anything was that interesting about her little town.  But I pressed her saying what is common to her may be a treasure to us.  She opened up.  She told us about a small village museum, a crystal park, Virginia City, Nevada City and Bannock State Park.  We knew about Bannock.   It is a fantastic place we will visit tomorrow.

Sparky's

After lunch we drove into town to see the museum.  It was a very cool place with many farm implements from the late 1800s, a fully supplied school house from the period, a log cabin built by some of the original pioneers in this area and a shepherd's cook wagon.   The cook wagon was the forerunner of today's travel trailer.  It had a bed, kitchen, living area and a wood stove.

Truck bed table.

As we were leaving the museum, I managed to back into a truck parked behind me.  I put a small dent in the side of it.  It was parked in front of a real estate office.  I went in to see if they knew who the truck belonged too.  The lady at the desk said it was hers.  She went out with me to see the damage.
She was very gracious and was very kind.  We exchanged info and wished each other well and I was off.

Shepherd's wagon.

We spent the rest of the day walking the dogs around the park and sitting outside enjoying the cool weather.  Darlie went in to take a nap but the dogs wouldn't leave her alone.  They all got on the bed and did all they could to keep her awake.

No nap today.

Tomorrow I will go into the local hardware to buy a small shovel and gloves to use up at the crystal park.  It is a mining area open to the pubic.  They find all kinds of semiprecious gem stones and crystals there.  That should be a fun activity.