9-10-17 - (Day 41 - Virginia City, Nevada City, and Earthquake Lake)

Last time we rode Amber, we were in the smokey, West  Glacier area.  Today we road in nice fresh air. It was in the mid 70's and gorgeous sunshine.

We took a ride to Virginia City.  It is an old west mining town that flourished during the gold rush then stood stagnant after the gold was mined. We walked up and down the street, admiring the old west buildings and viewing original items from the era.  It  was almost a ghost town again today, with only about half of the buildings open due to the end of season and the labor force going back to school.

We went about a mile up the road to Nevada  City, another ghost town. There was very little life moving about, it was really dead here. LOL.

We had a nice picnic lunch at the Lions Club Park in Ennis.  A very peaceful park on the Madison River then continued on.

We made a few stops at Quake Lake, remembering those that lost their lives in the 1959 earthquake resulting in a landslide and the formation of Earthquake Lake.  28 people perished during the earthquake while camping along the river.

We saw a few bald eagles flying in the sky and a deer in town on our ride today.

Ferny Kat was ready to come outside when we returned.  She got as deep in the grass as I would allow her to go.  I had to make her come back inside.

We visited with Judy and Terry for a little while then called it a night.

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9-9-17 - (Day 40 - Baker's Hole Campground)

The lullaby of Gallatin River slumbered us to sleep last night along with a really light peppering rain. We were occasionally awaken by a semi on the road, then went back to sleep with a nice cool breeze blowing in the window.

                                                         Ferny watching the river flow by

We traveled 38 miles to Baker's Hole Campground in West Yellowstone, Wyoming and have finally met up with Terry and Judy.  Terry didn't think this was going to happen, persistence has finally paid off.

We have a nice primitive campsite with plenty of grass.  Another Ferny Kat approved campground.

Judy and Terry are camped a short walking distance away from us.  We take a detour and walk along the pretty Madison River  to get to their campsite.

We spent the day catching up and Terry caught a fish.

Rumor has it, there have been Moose sightings in the area.  Will keep you posted.

Da pics are right here:

9-8-17 - (Day 39 - Roadside Boondocking On Gallatin River)

It was a gorgeous ride on I15 southbound riding along the Missouri River winding through the mountains.

We added some unwanted miles and time when Google Maps lost internet connection at the end of a road with no signs. So we guessed, and you know it, we guessed wrong.  We wound up going around and back again on a really narrow, windy, road with no way to turn around Rap, AKA Ferny’s Castle. 

At least we had pretty country scenery to look at.  Needless to say we got Idis,  (our Garmin), out of the console as a backup.

We finally made it to Highway 191 and switched backed our way through the mountains, laughing at Ferny Kat leaning with the curves.

We got in a light shower, something that is much needed in this draught.

It has been a long 7 1/2 hours travel day, 340 mile, ride today to our pull out, stop over, on the bank of Gallatin River.

The soothing rustle of the river flowing across the rocks will be our lullaby tonight.  It won’t take much to put us to sleep.             

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9-7-17 - (Day 38 - East Glacier Lunch Meet )

We got our 2 nights at Mountain Meadow Campground in Hungry Horse and got the heck out of there.  The smoke was not letting up.  A few weeks ago, West Glacier was a happening place.   Today it is closing down.

We stopped and had lunch at the Whistle Stop in East Glacier with our good friend Cathy who lives in Kentucky.  Lauren and Cathy became friends when they both worked at American Monitor in Indianapolis.  Since that time we have visited each other and gone on vacations together.

It has been about 10 years since we have seen her.  We had a great time catching up, reminiscing about the good old times, and dreaming of the future.  The 2 hour lunch get together passed by quickly for us, but we're not so sure it did for our waiter, LOL.

It is so ironic, that our paths crossed on this journey.  Thank Goodness for Facebook.

We traveled 137 miles, and are back at Trails West RV Park in Shelby, Montana. At the moment we are out of the smoke.

Pray for Montana!

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9-6-17 - (Day 37- Smokey Mountains, Rocky Mountain Style)

We lounged around getting our connectivity fix this morning.  There wasn't much else to do on this cold. (in the 40's), smokey morning.  We didn't take a picture until after 1 pm, unbelievable, right?

We needed some relax time and a good internet fix.  The mission was accomplished.  

We caught another Pack Rat this morning, the count is up to 8.

We listened and watched the  helicopters go over with their water buckets.  I think it will be sometime next winter before this blaze is put out.  So sad!

We strolled, kinda huffed, around the park this morning.  In about a mile we had 15 flights according to Fit Bit.  We won' t argue  with that, there is a lot of elevation on this gravel campground road.

We took a ride on Amber in the fog of smoke for a couple of hours to kill a little time.  We saw a few crows, a hawk, and a grouse.  Wonder if the grouse  has been following us from Libby????  LOL

When we got back to camp, we had our own Cry Baby in the camper.  Ferny Kat was throwing a fit to get outside.  And of course she did.  She thoroughly enjoyed being camouflaged in  brush..

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9-5-17 - (Day 36 - Moving Day)

It was another crisp, cool, morning at Dunn's Creek Recreation Area.  We caught another pack rat during the night to get the count up to 7.   Believe me, this is nothing we want to brag about.

After we woke up, the one camper. other than us in the campground pulled out.  Our kind of place, except, we had reservations at Mountain Meadow RV Park and even with the wildfire closing the west side of Going To The Sun Road, we would loose $30 of our $50.26 already paid reservation. We aren't happy about this, but as Lauren said," Karma!!"

We watched one doe walk across the campground and a few Ospreys and Baldies.  We didn't see Cry Baby, but we heard him.  He is spreading his wings and flying further away from the nest.  Go Cry Baby!!

Ferny Kat got in hot pursuit of a Chipmunk.  His saving grace was, (in Ferny Kat's mind,)   her leash got caught under the truck tire.  She thinks she would have got him, what she would have done with him after that is another question?????

We stopped at a much needed Wally World intervention in Kalispell.  We traveled to Hungry Horse, Montana and are  parked at a really isolated campsite.  I don't care for their refund policy, but we do love the campsite and we see less smoke and ash here than at the previous campground.

I thought Ferny Kat would throw a fit when we left Dunn's Flat Recreation Area, but I thought wrong.  The gypsy in her must have been ready to move on.  After a 134 miles, we have another Ferny Kat approved campground.

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9-4-17 - (Day 35 - Happy Labor Day)

We woke up, walked out, and thought, is that fog we see?  Nope, it was smoke.  There were ashes dropping from the sky covering everything, including us. 

We caught 2 more pack rats during the night, getting the count up to 7. 

We watched a doe and a buck walk through the campground to the river then swim across.

Cry Baby was very squawky this morning   The Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Ducks were hard at it.

The sun was an amazing when it rose above the hill. The smoke in the air gave it a beautiful reddish glow.

Ferny Kat kept looking for her Gopher friend.  He apparently didn’t want to be friends anymore after she swatted at him.  His empty hole was filling back up with dirt.

The chipmunks were scurrying around, which she decided to befriend.  She ran one up a tree and waited a long while for him to come down as he barked at her.  Every time she would give up and walk off, he would attempt to climb down, and she would go back to treeing him.  After a long wait, he was finally able to safely get out of the tree.

We went into town to get our connectivity fix.  We observed Emergency Management setting up their Fire Camp at our favorite internet spot.  It was not as peaceful with all the semis unloading their supplies. We quickly got our stuff done and got out of town.

The boating traffic was active this morning but slowed down dramatically this afternoon.  The few campers in here were cleared out by 11 am.  That left us and another camper, we rarely see the other camper neighbor. 

It was a nice peaceful Labor Day grilling ribs sitting around watching the critters till bedtime.

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