6-29-2020

Today was a shorter day only 336 miles. It rained all night and I know for me I didn't sleep well because the noise kept waking me. This is what I heard all night.

This morning we learned what we needed to about the gray tanks, we have 2. We weren't sure if the 2 were connected or if when the gauge says 100% it is full. I went to take a shower and the water was not going down the drain. Guess what, Ernie had to get up and go out in the rain to empty the gray tank. Now we know, when it says 100%, it is full. The thing to know is we use the gray tank to help flush the black tank. We were hoping to make it a third, not quite. 

We also discovered it isn't easy cleaning off the windshield and windows when it is raining. We are going to have to figure out how to get air to the drivers side windows so Ernie can drive safely with the mirrors.

We drove in rain most of the day. I didn't have good opportunities to take pictures since it would have been trying to take them through the windshield wipers. Here are some things I observed...

1) There was snow on the mountains near Butte, Montana.

2) There were a lot more RV's (Motorhomes, Class C, 5th Wheel and pull behinds) going east than going west.

3) Clouds were hanging low around the mountains.

4) Sapphire Mountains in Missoula County are gorgeous.

5) I saw 2 vehicles with Wisconsin plates.

We decided to stay at a Harvest Host tonight. The place Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula, Montana. I'm not a beer drinker but Ernie enjoyed a Big Sky IPA while we waited for delivery of a pizza and some ravioli for Casen. Check out the Montana law, this would be a problem in Wisconsin. 😂

Montana State Law: 48 oz per person per day. 😲

It is 6 pm local time and it is still raining so we won't be posting any rig or selfie picture in this posting.

Tomorrow we should get to Coeur d'Alene before lunch. It's going to be an exciting day, I can't wait!

6-28-2020

Today, we were on the road at 8:15 am. We had to find level ground to hook up the Jeep and we were able to get that done safely before we got to the main road. 

Our plan was to drive to Miles City, Montana but Ernie was feeling good so we were able to get to Billings, 557 miles total. We found a place, a little more than what we wanted to spend but that's what happens when you change your mind and cell service is spotty.

So, I took a few pictures today only because there isn't much else to do when you are riding for 8 hours. 

When you are looking out the window you have to ask, is that a really big cow or a really big house? 😂 Well, its a really big 🐄

2nd pic...yellow as far as the eyes can see, not sure what they are but it was really pretty.

Casen has done really well but today he was bored so he got to be co-pilot for a few hours.

I was taking a picture of the coach and look who is in the window...crazy kid! 💗

6-27-2020

Last night when we went to bed, looking out the windows there were lightning bugs. It was kind of ironic, because this past week while working in Madison listening to the local country radio station on my way in to work the subject of lightning bugs or fireflies came up. I didn’t know that if are in the West and New England you refer to them as fireflies, while people in the South and most of the Midwest tend to say lightning bugs. For me it was lightning bugs and that seems to fit since I grew up in the Midwest. Ernie remembers calling them fireflies which also fits since he grew up in New England.

Amazing we actually got on the road at the time we wanted this morning. There is less work when you boondock so that helped. We crossed over into Minnesota around 8:15 am and into North Dakota around 1:15pm.

I forgot to mention in my last post, the young man in the pictures is our grandson Casen. He is excited to see his cousins in Washington and Idaho. He will be celebrating his 12^th birthday on this trip and is also excited to celebrate it with family he doesn’t get to see often. He is a really good traveler and we’d like to think he doesn’t mind traveling with us.

Our 2nd stop is at Mel Reimen Recreation area, another COE (Core of Engineering) site in Valley City, ND. We had to drive a little out of the way to get to it We do not have hookups at this site but our new lithium batteries did well last night so we should be good. Just when we are getting comfortable getting around sites, this one was by far the hardest. The address on the website doesn't take you to the right place. We ended up having to disconnect the jeep so we could turn around. It was probably a good thing because the roads into the sites were windy and narrow. The site was unusually uneven which caused leveling to raise the back wheels off the ground, more than the last time. Ernie wasn't comfortable with that so we put all the slides back in, raised the jacks and moved the rig over. It helped a little but we definitely are not level. I know it's good to unplug once in a while but having no wifi is one thing, having no service is another. 

We took Casen over to the swimming area and he got an hour in the water. He was happy. 

We were also able to put another sticker on our map. 

Tomorrow is about 410 miles. We wanted to make our reservation for the next park when we got here but without service we will pray we are able to make it in the morning after we leave.

Vacation 1st night

We made it to our first stop, a COE (Core of Engineering) site called Highland Ridge in Spring Valley, WI. The host just stopped by and we are checked in, great guy! We have a long pull thru site with no hookups so we will get the chance to try out our @Battle Born Batteries. There are quite a few campers, some in tents and a few RV's. We also have a couple of close "neigh" bors. 🐎

I went outside to grab a couple of pics and noticed our right back tire off the ground. The pull thru didn't look that uneven when we pulled in.

Tomorrow is a 300+ mile day. We will get on the road early so we have time to check out any places of interest.