Blogs from Missoula, Montana, United States, North America - page 2

I noted in the Helena blog that the drive west from Helena on U.S. 12 has a 6-7 mile stretch that goes through 6362’ McDonald Pass. The first two trips through the pass t’was just me and the Dodge Ram but not this time – this time, I had the Pilgrim in tow as I headed for Missoula MT! Initially, there was a lot of downshifting and upshifting by the transmission; but after about two miles the Ram and my accelerator foot got dancin’ to the same fiddler at a whopping 35 mph! Slow-moving vehicle lanes on steep grades are a good thing! I just turned on the four-ways and let her purr – well, growl actually might be more accurate. There was no new snow to report at the summit, and that was just fine ... read more

We are here at Jim an Mary's RV Park west of Missoula. A flower-filled RV park, work of one man who works seemingly constantly to keep gardens, pots, areas along walkways, you name it, vibrant with color. What a treat. We had had our mail forwarded to Charmaine's sister, Marlene; and Marlene graciously met us at Cracker Barrel restaurant and treated us to supper Tuesday evening! Thanks, Marlene! Wednesday, we did RV chores, then headed out to the Montana Smokejumpers Center for a real treat: a tour of the center, explanation of the smokejumpers work and skills (ranging from parachuting, firefighting, CPR, camping, sewing their own suits and jump bags, and repairing their own chutes) and conversations with smokejumpers themselves. This is the largest contingent of smokejumpers in the U.S.: 60-strong, among whom 4 are women. ... read more

Let me just say....it was a camel kind of day! First off, Kennewick, WA....When I had stayed here a few years ago, it was very nice and seemed like a great place. With that said...that place is a bleep dirty bleep hole! They need to do some serious litter patrol there. I won’t go back. Once we left, we headed SE towards Walla Walla , WA. We stopped at the Whitman Mission. I was mistaken when I said they were Mormons. They were actually Protestants who setup a Mission. After 11 years they were massacred by the Cayuse Indians. I can’t remember why that was the case..I can only assume they did something to them since they lived in peace for so many years. I have to read the book again. Need to find it on ... read more

We were on the road by 9:00am and headed west on SR 87 which surprisingly was quick to reach Montana (I guess we were closer to Montana than we thought!). The drive was scenic and we saw lots of farm and ranch land all the way up onto I287 North which brought us to Ennis, a cute little fishing town that we thought, if we had the time, we would stop and visit - "another trip" is what we saying to each other. We branched over to a short cut on SR 359 to I90 west/north west Passing through Butte to our destination Missoula. We arrived at Jim and Mary's RV Park at 2:30pm, located right off I90 on I93 which is the interstate we need to take on our route up to Glacier (very convenient!). ... read more

7/3/13 - Left Aspenwood Campground headed to Missoula, MT. On the way out we saw more and nicer RV parks in and around West Glacier, MT. Stopped at McDonald's and had lunch. Arrived at Jellystone RV Park (Dakota picked this park for us). Park is very nice, but a little pricey. Yogi makes his appearance each day. There is ice cream each day at $1.00 per scoop. Dakota fell in love with huckleberry flavor here ;-).... read more