May 18, 2006—Taking to the Road Again

After a quick trip in to the office on this Thursday to pick up some things, Marc came back to finalize packing the RV. The company wants us in Wisconsin as soon as we can arrive there via RV travel. We said goodbye to good buddy Glenn and were able to finally pull out about 10:15 a.m. The day was uneventful but with nice weather for the run along I-84 next to the Columbia River in Oregon. We make plans to try and stop somewhere north of the tri-cities area, Richland, Kirkland and Pasco, Washington.

It is getting late for searching for a boondocking spot about 4:30, but Marc finally peals off hwy. 395 on a small country road after passing what appears to be a mostly abandoned farm facility. Hay is the predominant crop here and the fields stretch for miles between homes. The road he chooses doubles back and we tuck ourselves in behind the small shed and call it home. We hear the nearby highway but beyond that, not a car drives by and no one appears so we figure we are safe for the night.

Not wanting to hit Spokane commuter traffic a hundred miles away, we take our time getting a start at 7:30 the next morning. Even though I am mostly watching the three lanes of traffic as we pass through, I notice that the Spokane area has grown tremendously since we were last through nine years ago. The growth now reaches into Idaho at Post Falls and from Post Falls, it is continuous into Coeur d’Alene. Umm, whatever happened to all those green grassy empty fields? From Coeur d’ Alene, I am on highway I haven’t traversed before as we climb out the east side to spectacular views of huge trophy homes overlooking the mirror surface of the lake. It is up and down through some mountainous areas; we pass by Wallace, Idaho, a very old looking brick town that I want to stop and investigate but don’t get the chance;  and we are suddenly at the top of Lookout Pass and the Montana border. We are trying to make it at least to the Missoula area for the night.

About 30 miles pass Missoula, Marc notes a small enclave called Gold Creek and veers suddenly to the off-ramp. We park the big rig and I travel in the Dodge to the tiny community only to find there is no suitable boondocking. He takes over and leaves with the Dodge for about 12 minutes and returns saying he has our spot, by a pond no less. A paved road leads to the spot, where it suddenly turns to dirt but we have adequate room to turn the rigs to head in face-out position for the morning. After dinner we go for a walk to the pond and take some nice pictures. Later the next morning as we backtrack to the freeway and get underway, I note that we must have shown up like a spotlight and people were probably wondering “how in the hell did they get out there?

Western Montana is beautiful. Because we are on our way to a new project and not tourists this trip, we rush through and I am forced to take most of my photos from the cab of the Dodge I am driving while Marc constantly runs away from me in the big rig. It is a unique perspective.

It is Saturday and our plan for the day calls for us to visit Deer Lodge for some of the tourist attractions featured there. That will be in a separate web entry, but as I write this tonight we are sitting in a regular RV park, Rock Creek RV Park in Livingston, MT with our rear end about 3 feet from the rushing Yellowstone River. It is the weekend and Marc has it “off”. We encountered some heavy hail storms today but if tomorrow is better we plan to ride the Wing to Yellowstone. Stay tuned to the entries to find out how we spend the weekend. Oh, we can highly recommend this mom & pop RV park as a nice place to stay, with full 30 amp hookups and cable currently running $27.50 including tax. It’s no frills but the setting along the rushing river can’t be beat and the owners are very sweet and anxious to please; they are letting us park all the extra vehicles at no charge in their large overflow area. Also, this spot right on the river (of which there are only three) is no extra charge and will take any size rig. Rock Creek RV Park is located south on Hwy. 89 approximately three miles from I-90 and they can be reached at 406 222-1096.