Hardin, MT to Rapid City, SD 4 June 2013

 This park was a paradox.  It was low budget, but had upscale coaches. The large 5th wheel beside us was from Alaska.  The one on the other side was from New York.  The nearest attraction was Little Big Horn Battlefield National Park.  This is the best park around, so that may explain the paradox.  We don't need to stay in fancy parks.  We can close our blinds and be oblivious to our surroundings, especially for a night at a time.  We have parks that are fine for overnights and those we prefer for long-term stays.  This was good for overnight.

 Because of the high wind and rain yesterday, we didn't go to Little Big Horn.  It was a disappointment, but we knew that we wouldn't see much from the car and the weather was way too nasty to get out of the car.  This and the next photo is the country near Little Big Horn.  It fits our picture of the terrain of the battle.  A reminder:  if you are 65, you are eligible for a pass to all the National Parks and Monuments for a one time fee of $10 per couple/car load for the rest of your life.

 We really enjoyed this part of Montana.  It is very free of buildings and signs.

We drove for miles without seeing so much as a house.

 The rain in the distant mountains was mystical.

 Strip mining for coal by the Peabody Coal Company.  This mine is reputed to have the lowest sulfur content coal in North America. The processing plant is across I-90.  I grew up in the strip mining country of Illinois.  I know that this is controversial, but the coal companies in my hometown were very environmentally responsible and made the land into a state park when they were finished.  

 This train of coal went on for about a mile.

 Ted motoring down I-90 with an oil rig in the background. Friend from Wyoming says that the state has a real windfall of oil money.  It has generated incredible corruption.   

 Wyoming has more of these "parking" areas than rest stops.  Good idea.  They don't have to provide restrooms and picnic area.  Works great for us since we already have our own restroom and dining table. 

 This is Spearfish, SD, not far from the Wyoming border.  We spent some time here, and, even considered but discarded, making this a summer home.  It is a neat town with easy access to the big outdoors of The Black Hills.

 We came through several road construction areas, but speed limit was 65 mph.  Nice.  Our tax dollars are fixing the aging Interstate system; much needed.

 There were lots of clever "rider" signs entering Sturgis, SD, the sight of the famous annual motorcycle rally.  We have been told to avoid the area when this is happening.  It becomes crazy and people make choices that they never would in their hometowns.

 You know that you are in South Dakota when you see these snow gates that are used to close the Interstate when needed.  There are signs posted near some of these indicating extremely steep fines should a driver choose to go around them.

 Note the dark hills  We are in The Black Hills of South Dakota.

 This is Exit 61 off of I-90 in Box Elder, SD, our new place of residence.  Box Elder is a "suburb" of Rapid City.  

 We are parked at America's Mailbox.  This is a business that helps RVers establish residence in SD and provides a mail service for those who use them.  They throw away the junk mail and send only first class mail when given an address.  Nothing fancy, but pretty cool view.

 As I said, nothing fancy.

This the #1rated restaurant in Rapid City according to TripAdvisor.  Again, nothing fancy, not diet food, but definitely worth the rating.

Garrison, MT to Hardin, MT 3 June 2013

  It takes us about an hour from the time we get up until we pull out of the parks.  According to MapQuest our drive would take us about 4 1/2 hours and that was right.

The rain made a beautiful curtain across the scenery on I-90.

Butte, MT can be seen in its entirety from I-90.  The main street is very wide and runs from I-90 straight north.  It reminds us of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

It is June 3, yet we saw fresh snow in parts of the mountains.  

This photo and the next two really illustrate that this is big sky country.

This was taken at Belgrade, MT, one of the gates to Yellowstone to the south.

Here we are filling up.  Yes, the bill is not for the faint-hearted, but we only have been paying about $35/night to stay anywhere and we eat in far more than out, so our estimated cost per day on this trip is a little over a $100/day, including fuel.  The cost of the coach isn't included.  

This one of many homes along I-90.  There are many log homes, all with fabulous views.

More snow in the mountains further east.

There are three refineries on I-90 at Billings.  We paid $3.88/gal in MT versus $4.15 in Portland.  These refineries and far lower taxes help Montana have cheaper fuel.

We are getting close to Hardin, MT, our stop for the night.  We are very close to Little Big Horn National Park and had planned to visit, but by the time we parked, the wind and rain were fierce.  We decided we didn't want to unhook the Jeep in that weather.  Instead, we enjoyed a nice dinner, "First Ladies" on C-SPAN, and worked on this blog.  

Coeur d'Alene, ID to Garrison, MT 2 June 2013

 These homes were above our park and had a view of Lake Coeur d'Alene.  Nice!

 We are ready to leave.  I like to include photos of our sites for our RV friends, who might consider staying in the places we have been.

 Umm.  How much did it cost to get this paint job?  Do I like it?  I can see mountains and desert.  Are the red blobs birds?  Well, I thank the people for adding interest to our day.

 This is the club house in the park.  The park rents boats and pontoons that can take you to seven different boat accessible restaurants on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

 The road out of Coeur d'Alene is very different from the one coming into it.  There are many beautiful homes on the lake and tourist dollars help the economy.  

 We stopped at this rest stop in Montana for lunch.  A guy in a U-haul and a companion in an SUV with three large dogs entertained us.

 We caught up with the rain that we had in Portland.  

 More rain ahead and we came to miles and miles of graveled, one-lane interstate where the speed limit was 35 mph.  A short day, just got long.

Riverfront RV Park, east of Garrison, MT on the banks of the Little Blackfoot River.  As we drove in, a guy in a golf-cart greeted us.  He said a few words and drove us to this site.  Then he wrote down our information in a notebook and said that he would send Joe to take our credit card.  Joe came about a half-hour later and processed our credit card on a phone app.  Usually, parks have offices and brochures with rules and map.  It was clean, quiet, and we got level.  What more could we want?

Richland, WA to Coeur d'Alene, ID 1 June 2013

 TV dish and jacks down, slides in, ready to unplug and head to Coeur d'Alene. This park had a lot of permanent people, but was clean and neat.

 These are apples being grown on trellises!  They are easier to tend and pick.  Ted knows a lot about this part of the state because he drove here once or twice a week doing agricultural research.  

Water from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Reservoir behind the Grand Coolee Dam.  Note the irrigation drops.  These rigs lose a lot less water to evaporation than the older impulse sprinklers that were mounted on top.

Note the bare ground behind the wheat field.  In this part of the country rainfall is insufficient to grow a crop of wheat every year, so the only way to grow wheat is in a wheat-fallow rotation.  The fallow fields are kept weed-free, allowing an extra year of moisture to accumulate before planting.

 The road to Spokane stretches on.  

 There used to be a sign here that said, "Welcome to Lind, please drop in, Mt. St. Helen's did."

We took this lunch to the picnic table at the rest stop below.  A popchip blew off Ted's plate and a seagull grabbed it as soon as it hit the ground.

This is Sprague Lake.  The small town of Sprague is at the southeast tip of the lake.  The town was originally named Hoodooville after a local character William "Hoodoo Billy" Burrows.  It was later renamed for a Union Pacific executive.  How boring.  The lake is noted for large raibow trout and also has good bass fishing.

 For those who are new to our blog, this is what we look like on the road.  Ted's motorcycle is on a lift at the back of the coach.  Two bikes are on the back of the Jeep behind the coach.   

 As we got closer to Spokane, WA, the vegetation changed.  Lodgepole pines appeared eventually giving way to Ponderosa pines.  Different tree species, but it reminds us of Maine.

 Spokane, Washington coming up.

 

 We arrived at our resort at 2:30 pm.  Within 15 min. we were set up, including our dish, which automatically finds DirectTVs three satellites.  Gives us lots of time to play.

 One time saver is velcro.  These items ride like this all the time and don't fall, even during tight turns.  The red light on the wall indicates that our the water pump is on.  It provides us with water when we are riding down the road or choose not to hook up for the night.

These containers in the bathroom are velcroed.  Canisters, container of kitchen tools, toaster, lamps, printer, etc. ride in place, thanks again to the miracle strips.

Ted drives most of the time.  Penny puts the step-cover up, attaches a bungee to legs of TV tray and works on her computer doing email, journal, genealogy; knit; crochets; reads; navigates; looks up info for Ted about places we pass; and generally has a great time.  When tired of this set-up, the TV tray can be stowed behind couch and the footrest on the passenger chair raised.  We like to listen to books on CDs, thanks to a generous loan from Becky Cheek.

 When staying only one night, we try not to unhook the Jeep.  We usually eat in the coach.  Tonight, we walked to this wonderful restaurant. Ted had been here before, so he knew it was good.  At the end of this ramp is a floating restaurant, with a log cabin interior and windows all the way around looking at Lake Coeur d'Alene.

One of the views is the famous Coeur d'Alene Resort Hotel with it's floating golf hole.  The one time that we stayed there, Reba McEntire had just left the penthouse.