Montana

Our plans changed and we ended up skipping Provo, Utah since the Elks Lodge was full and the weather was warm, meaning when we pulled over the inside of the trailer would be really warm to sleep. So, we pushed on to Blackfoot, Idaho and used a Harvest Host, which is an organization we joined, and they have members who allow you to camp overnight. We were at the Idaho Potato Museum and used their parking lot, although there weren’t any hook-ups there either it was a lot cooler than Provo.  Just around the corner was a restaurant named Rupes, which just happens to be our sister-in-law’s maiden name.  I sent her a photo, but she said it wasn’t her family’s!

This change also allowed us to also skip Idaho Falls and go directly into Helena a day early, so we spent 3 nights in Helena.  The bad news is that this changed our travel day into Blackfoot to a 500-mile drive (7 hours), then another 300 miles to Helena the next day.  I believe it was worth it as we had three days in Helena.

In case you don’t know about long truck trips, your mind wanders, and you think of very random things.  One is that I realized I forgot my prescription sunglasses, which I had bought specifically for this trip and then we realized we forgot our binder with all the paperwork for the trip along with our special-made stickers that Kristin designed and had printed for us. The basic reason for the stickers was to mount one on a piece of copper and attach it in the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. All of that was in the binder! If you haven’t heard of the Signpost Forest, here is a link to check it out. https://yukoninfo.com/watson-lake-signpost-forest/

Luckily for us we have a wonderful son! Chad went to our house got the binder and my glasses and had them shipped to Helena. Since we were there one extra day, we had a cushion of time to get the package.  Luckily it arrived on time Monday. We are calling it the inheritance binder, because it cost the kids their inheritance to ship it to Montana!

On Monday, Tom got the oil changed on the truck and that shouldn’t have to be done again until we get home. We met up with the Martinizes (Rick and Yolanda and Danny and Judi). They are in our Breezy Elks camping group and are the ones that helped us get on this trip. We ate dinner at a cute pub that was the last brothel in Helena!  The Martinizes left for Browning (our next stop) on Tuesday morning, and we will meet them and the rest of our caravan there on Wednesday.

Since we had an additional day in Helena, on Tuesday, June 13 we decided to go to the Capitol, it is a beautiful building, and we could just walk in and look around. I have been to a lot of states in this country but have never toured a capitol building – not even Sacramento! So, since I don’t have anything to compare this to, I certainly hope all Capitol buildings are a beautiful as the one in Helena, Montana! Our tour guide, Donna not only had a lot of information on the Capitol but such a love for Montana!

Wednesday morning, we got up, got the trailer ready and hit the road to Johnson St. Mary’s campground in Browning, Montana. Most of the trip was windy and then rainy. Our GPS routed us to Glacier National Park instead of our campground, but since it was only a couple of miles away, the park ranger graciously gave us directions and we arrived safely and set up in the pouring rain!  As we keep telling each other “It’s an adventure and we’re camping!”

So we’ll meet everyone in our group tonight and get ready to leave for Canada on Saturday June 17.