Wandering Spirit

Sunday, August 14 we leave the KOA in Kamiah, Idaho.

Above and below are some of the friends we met in Kamiah, on our daily walks.

We move on only about 45 miles to a COE (Core of Engineers) park called Dent Acres.  I’ve heard good things about this park and am looking forward to spending time here….8 nights in fact, at $10 a night with my Senior Pass.  This includes full hookups, covered picnic table, fire pit, and showers.

It’s a long and winding road, up hill and down, that leads to my campsite.  Top speed here is 35 miles per hour and this last 20 miles is not a drive I enjoy.

When we arrive at Dent Acres the temperature is near 100 degrees and there is almost no shade at our site.  Plus, another problem seems to be bees and hornets.  We end up moving to another site, attempting to get some shade, but there still isn’t much, at least not where and when we need it, and there is no decrease in the bees.

Joy and Shiloh tend to snap at bugs, so loads of bees are a big problem for us.  It turns into a three ring circus as they snap and I swat and slap, and we get more crabby and cranky in the 100 degree heat.  We go inside to sit in the air conditioning, and I raise the Clam (6×6 ft screen house). Other than our early morning and our evening walks, we are more or less held prisoner in WS and the Clam by heat and bees.  Joy ends up getting stung.  We are not happy campers.  I have no phone or internet service.  I read and the kids sleep.

Dent Prison.  Sorry, I told you I get cranky in the heat.

I’m sure this is a lovely park at a different time.  The camp host couple are wonderful.

Here is the reservoir, and the Dent Bridge, as seen from the campground.

I cut my 8 days to 3 days, get a refund for the other 5 days, and off we go.

We are about to cross Dent Bridge as we leave.

View of the Clearwater River, as we go back down the long and winding road.

We  are heading in the direction of Grand Coulee Dam.  In Lewiston, ID we stop at the Petco for dog food, and oh my gosh there is an AT&T signal….first I’ve seen since Missoula, plus I haven’t had internet since Kamiah.  I buy chewies for Joy and Shiloh and they lie on the grass in the shade by the Petco parking lot, while I sit on the curb catching up on some on line business.

When we leave Lewiston it’s over 90 degrees and I’m not sure where I’m going.  After awhile and asking around, I find myself near Starbuck, Washington, at the KOA at Lyons Ferry Marina  on the Snake River.  I ask if they have a spot in the shade for us….and it just so happens they do!  It’s only available for 2 nights, but I take it.  I can’t seem to get away from the heat, but having good shade and green grass for J&S to lie on helps.  I spend literally hours on line (good free wifi here!) trying to figure out where to go next, but nothing is making me happy.  (Our reservations near the dam start on August 23.)

This was taken this morning.  In the afternoon the shade is even better.

The sun sets and we step outside….there is a breeze.  Ok, it feels like the furnace blower, but hey, it’s a breeze.  A few minutes later the lady from the KOA office comes to see me.  “We had a cancelation” she tells me.  “You can stay in this spot until you need to leave on the 23rd if you like.  I put this site on hold for you.  Just go to the office when they open in the morning and let them know.”

That’s good news to this crabby, cranky old lady!  With my KOA 10% discount it’s about $32  a night here….not bad for KOA.

Train trestle over the Snake River, as viewed from our site, with a train on it, no less!

Bridge over the Snake River.  Can’t see this from our site, but when we walk around the marina it comes into view.  I didn’t know the Snake River was this big! (wide).

Golden dogs in the golden grasses.

Right now there is almost no one here at this campground, but apparently it will fill up with boaters on the week end.  We will be mostly laying low, trying to keep cool.

Sunday, August 7 we arrive at Lolo Hot Springs RV Park.  I plan to stay here for a week.  I’m not much a fan of donning a bathing suit, but I’ve been considering it for the possibility of the hot springs helping my back.  So maybe.  (BTW, my back IS getting better.  I’d say it’s at about 75% now).

But wait.  I get here and see that there are some nice sites and I am able to nab one of those.  But….there are also some areas here that put me in mind of the movie “Deliverance”.  Mind you, I never saw that movie, but I heard about it and well…it just doesn’t feel right here… with some dilapidated old RV’s and old school buses with cardboard in the windows passing for permanent homes, yards full of junk and trash, overflowing garbage containers and piles of trash where trash shouldn’t be.  Hmmm.

But my site is so sweet, backed up against Lolo Creek with wildflowers all around, and I AM trying to focus on the good….

And yes, I did back in! (and managed not to end up in the creek!)

Our own daisy bouquet.

Joy has a soak in the Lolo Creek

So I decide to stay.

I find that there is no need to concern myself with the bathing suit issue, the pool is closed.  The hot spring pool at Lolo Hot Springs is closed?  Odd.

This is Sunday afternoon.  Fast forward to Tuesday morning.  I wake up to the sky threatening storms and no electricity.  No water either. (as you know I have my own power and water, but in this case I’ve paid for it to be supplied.)

When the ‘resort’ bar and grill opens at 8am I’m there asking what’s up?  Why no electricity?  “Well, someone ran their car into the main electrical thingie last night.”  And why no water?  “Well, they rammed into that too, and also our propane tank, and my cook didn’t show up this morning, and….”

So I’m thinking things just keep on feeling less and less right around here and this just might be a good time to LEAVE.  I ask for a refund on the rest of my time here and by gosh, I get it!  So I hook up in the rain and head west on Hwy 12 in a downpour.

Happily the rain stops rather quickly and I am able to drive this beautiful road under mixed skies.  I drove (without towing) this route many years ago and remember it as being one of the most beautiful places ever.  It still is.  Lewis and Clark made their way across this route  with the help of Indian guides over 200 years ago and it’s still wild and scenic and mostly undeveloped even today.  Much of it follows the Lochsa River.  Absolutely beautiful.

The Lolo Pass Visitor Center/Rest Stop is very nice for a rest or a picnic or having questions answered.

After some hours I find myself on the Nez Perce Reservation in the little town of Kamiah, staring at the KOA Campground.

My site at the KOA

I’m not always fond of KOA’s but this one looks pretty decent with lots of big old trees and it’s in a good spot right across the street from the Nez Perce park that holds the key to their creation legend, “The Heart Of The Monster.”

(I won’t try to tell the story about the monster here, but if you want to learn it, just Google “Nez Perce, Heart Of The Monster”.)

I sign up at KOA for 5 nights and every day we go for a walk around the ‘heart’.

The Heart Of The Monster

The heart from a distance

Joy and Shiloh have a dip in the Clearwater River behind the Nez Perce park.

I felt relief when I left Lolo Hot Springs.  I feel contentment here.

I’m far, far from any AT&T signal so am relying completely on free internet.  KOA has it, but it’s so weak I couldn’t even add one picture to my last blog.  I find the Visitor Center in Kamiah and ask about free internet.  I’m told it’s right here, just for visitors, at the center!   So here I sit,,at a little desk, writing to you, while Joy and Shiloh wait in JR, parked under a tree.

The next place I’m planning to stay is a COE Campground called Dent Acres about 44 miles from here.  Finding internet there may be another challenge, so it might be awhile before I post again.  Or not.  Who knows?  🙂

My sweet boy Shiloh had a birthday yesterday!  He is 10 years old!

Such a sweet boy!!

Two years ago this morning I set out on my journey.  I can say I’m grateful beyond measure for this time and for this experience.  It has been extraordinary in every sense, and for every day that I can continue on with the journey I’ll be rejoicing in this opportunity.

I’m not saying life is perfect or problem-free.  I’ve had some bumps along the path and some rocks in the road, as you know if you have followed this blog.  Life didn’t turn into lollipops and roses because I chose to do full-time RVing.

But…there are so many experiences and thoughts and sights along the road!  I love the relative freedom to go where I choose to go, when I choose to go there, led by weather and whim.  I love being able to watch the trees waving in the wind in Wyoming, the clouds moving through the mountains in Montana, daisies bobbing in the breeze, seeing a multitude of colors in a rock I found, or in an extravagant sunset.  There is the grandeur of the snow capped Rocky Mountains to consider, and the sun glittering on the water in Lolo Creek, or the Salmon River, or the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon coast.    I love looking out over a sea of stately saguaro in Arizona, with arms all lifted to the sky.  Natures beauty is abundant.  It’s everywhere, and with it comes wonder and amazement and joy.

There is another major aspect I love about this lifestyle, and it’s the lack of attachment to ‘things’.  The sense of freedom this gives me is nothing less than exhilarating.  Letting go of ‘stuff’ is liberating in a way that is hard to explain.  It’s an ongoing process and can be painful at times, but the more I let go of, the better I seem to feel….there is a sense of breathing deeply….of floating or gliding or flying like a bird, in my spirit.

I’ve found that it’s true that having a lot of ‘things’ doesn’t make me happiest, and ‘things’ don’t necessarily give me security.  Security is so relative….

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey by reading my blog!  Since I’m solo and I love to write,  this is how I share these experiences, and sharing somehow makes it all the more real for me.

Some of you who are reading this are contemplating your own adventure in the future, so I would encourage you to do whatever it takes to KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE!  If this is the desire of your heart it’s well worth it to pursue.

Continue On.  Focus On The Good.

Peace.

(Sorry no pictures today.  Very weak internet where I am.)

We leave North Fork, Idaho after a two week stay, and go back to Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula for a few days.  I need my prescription filled at Walmart and to stock up on this and that before we go off into the wilds again.

We meet up with the same friend who wanted to remain nameless in Ronan, MT (because she was hard at work updating “Casita Travel Trailer A-Z Owners Guide”, which she wrote some years back and it is the BEST Casita instruction manual out there. Highly recommended!)  That would be “Arizona Eileen”.  Since she’s finished with that big job she no longer needs to be incognito.

By the way I would also highly recommend Jim and Mary’s RV Park if you don’t mind the expense. ($116 for 3 nights with Good Sam).  It’s a beautiful park (remember all those flowers from a few posts back?) with roomy sites, lots of trees and green grass, many pull throughs and clean, clean, clean!

******

As it turns out, every Saturday morning in down town Missoula there is a gigantic Farmers Market, and I feel in the mood to go check it out.  I walk around for maybe 45 minutes and don’t see all of it, but that’s ok.

Missoula is home to the University of Montana, with a population of about 70,000.  To me it seems like an old western town mixed with college town, and it does have character!

To the far left it says “We buy anything” and on the right, the name of the place…”Pie Hole”.  This was across the street from the Farmers Market.

Joy and Shiloh are not allowed at the Farmers Market so they wait in JR.  It’s not hot yet and the windows are down, as usual.

Missoula is also a train town.

There was music, and coffee!

As you can see here, I was able to get my Soy Latte!  Not infrequently I come across coffee places in my travels that don’t offer options to cow milk.  I probably have the college students to thank for the option here.  They also offered almond milk.

And now for some fruit and veggie and flower pictures!  This is a tiny sample of what was available.

Sunflowers and Glads and Snapdragons.

Huckleberries!  I’ve never even seen huckleberries for sale before and there were many tables like this!

Greens!

These cauliflowers are as big as my head!  Not exaggerating!

Such pretty colors….fruits and veggies are wonderful!

This is what I came away with.  Basil, cilantro, apricots, fresh bread, leaf lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, corn and huckleberries.

Oh yeah, how could I forget to tell you I bought this?  🙂  A cherry tart.  It may look like a pie, but truly it’s just the size of the palm of my hand!

Can’t leave Joy and Shiloh out of this post!  Below are pictures of them playing on the leash free island behind Wagonhammer RV Park.

Joy in the foreground.  Shiloh behind.

Shiloh….tail up!

To

A little blurry but I just thought it was so cute because Joy’s ears are flopping up as she lopes towards me.  🙂

Tomorrow, August 6, we travel on to Lolo Hot Springs, in Montana near the Idaho boarder.

On Saturday, July 23 we travel the 19 miles to the town of Salmon, and then just beyond it to the Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Educational Center.  There is a nice visitor center here and a large area with trails, placards explaining many things, and various structures to demonstrate how it looked back in the day.

A picture from inside the visitor center.

I learn the story of how Sacajawea was chosen to guide Lewis and Clark through the mountains and rivers so they could map their way to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River.   What a difficult journey!  Lewis and Clark had hoped to do the whole trip by river, but that wasn’t possible.  They were able to buy horses from the Shoshone Indians.

I wouldn’t have lasted 5 miles.

Joy and Shiloh are allowed everywhere here, even into the movie area.  Actually what that means is that I can relax and learn and enjoy.

Joy meets a wolf…sort of.  Though she is a natural leader, and this looks very much like a dog, she gets it, and takes the submissive role.  Interesting.

We walk some of the trails along the river, and enjoy our day here.

*****

On Friday, July 29 we backtrack into Montana to the Big Hole Battlefield.

We need to cross the Continental Divide to do this.  The hot temperature cools off 10-12 degrees as we climb in elevation.  It’s a relief, but it’s still fairly hot.

The battlefield is a National Park, but there is no charge to enter.

This place gives me a heavy heart.  The battlefield is actually a cemetery with 60 to 90 unmarked graves of Nez Perce Indians, many of which are women and children.  They were  attacked in the early morning hours of August 9, 1877.  The People, of which there were about 800, only about 200 being warriors, were still asleep when the US Army began firing shots and setting fire to teepees.  Besides the dead, there were many wounded and many horses lost.

The Nez Perce were traveling peacefully with their families. They were hunting buffalo and would eventually try to make their way to Canada, and freedom.

Those that survivedcontinued from here towards the Yellowstone area.

Wildflowers adorn the area…maybe some of the graves.

*****

The dogs aren’t allowed anywhere here except in the parking lots.  It’s hot and there is no shade and I don’t feel comfortable leaving them in the truck for more than 5 minutes or so, even with the windows wide open.  I get these pictures by leaving JR running with the air conditioning on while I go to a viewing area at the Visitor Center.

I’m the only one there, and the silence is….loud.  In the quiet, as I gaze out over the area, I can almost hear the screams of the women and children as they seek shelter in the trees along the river.

The limited time here due to no dog access and heat, has been enough.  I’m still covered in sadness as I write this, hours later.

*****

Then on a happier note….

Saturday, July 30, Wagonhammer RV Park holds it’s 4th Annual Lavender Festival!

I dont’ really know what to expect, never having been to a Lavender Festival before.  I dress up the kids in their bandanas….Joys happens to have a lot of lavender in it, and she was wearing her purple harness….so she fit right in. I didn’t take a picture of that but you can see her purple harness is photos above.

We walk across to the big open park-like area where people had been setting up since the day before.

It was set up really cute with 8-10 vendors, and little tables set with pretty table cloths and bouquets of lavender.

That’s my lavender lemonade there on the table. Tasty!

They sold everything from the dried lavender bouquets, crocheted purple pot holders, lavender bath and body products, hand made baby cloths, quilts and jewelry, and even some fresh veggies.

I buy a little dried bouquet to go with the lavender ‘joy’ I already had.

There is a really cute gift shop here at the RV park too, where among other things, you can buy items made by local artists.

Sorry, blurry….but pretty in it’s own way.  🙂  They decorated a lavender ‘Christmas’ tree in the gift shop in honor of the festival.

Pretty stuff.

I actually try on those skirts hanging in the middle of this picture, but they just weren’t working for me.  🙂

********

Our biggest problem here has been the heat.  It’s been in the upper 80’s and 90’s every day…99 degrees being the highest so far.  Because of this we spend all of our afternoons either in WS or traveling in JR, with the air conditioning on.

The mornings are surprisingly cool, and that’s when we walk and I do chores.  The sun goes behind the mountains at around 8pm, and after that we come outside again.  They say this is unusually hot for this area , but it’s lasting the whole time we are here.  It saps my energy and makes me crabby if I have to be in it, and the dogs are miserable, and rush to get into the a/c.  This has limited our exploration of the area.  Also there was a fire a few miles away, which lasted most of the week, so the air has been smoky.  It was quickly controlled so no damage was done to homes.

I need to pay better attention when I plan….I must have been thinking it was a higher elevation here but actually it’s less than 4000 feet in North Fork, where we are.  If we come back this way probably fall would be a good time.

Honoring Mick On His 73rd Birthday !

Can’t help myself.  I have to do this!  ( I suppose you will find this a bit biased 🙂  )

Michael Philip Jagger, born July 26, 1943.

DM (WE) 10-11-2001 P. 20 Mick Jagger, age 10, at Wentworth County School with friends.

Dad Joe, mom Eva, Brother Chris and Mick lived in Richmond, a nice suburb of London.  His dad was a gym teacher and helped his sons Mike and Chris, develop healthy exercise habits from their youth.

“Mike” became “Mick”, and had some rebellious years when he became a bit soft, but picked up his good childhood habits again when health became important to him.   You can tell even now, it paid off.

That’s just a microphone, don’t worry.

As a teen, he loved the black blues guys from the USA.  Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, BB King, to name a few.  He liked to sing and imitate them.  While at the Richmond train station one historic day, with a load of blues record albums under his arm, he came across Keith Richards who shared the same interest in blues.  They rekindled their friendship, which had started when they were but wee lads.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Charlie Watts, drummer, Mick, and Keith

Mick dropped out of the prestigious London School of Economics to devote more time to the music.  (Can you imagine how his parents felt about that?!)  Hey!  Turned out it was the right decision.  (Can you imagine Michael Jagger, the banker?)

My intro to the Stones happened when I was about 14, on a transistor radio that I used to stick under my pillow at night.  DJ Tom Clay at CKLW,( a huge Windsor, Ontario radio station across the river from Detroit) was playing things like “Not Fade Away” by the Stones, that he’d gotten his hands on, on a trip to London.  That was before this music was actually released in the US.

In the early days.  Around 1965.

I’d never heard of the Rolling Stones before that, but it was love at first listen.  That music…that beat….that voice….spoke to me.  Sang to ME.  I was hooked.

My first Stones concert was at Cobo Arena in Detroit, November 26, 1965.  Two friends and I (that would be Marie who comments here as “Ruby Red”, and Diane, sent in our money order to Cobo as soon as we heard tickets were available.  That’s how you did it back then!  The best tickets were $3.50, and that’s what we wanted.

Within a week, our tickets arrived in the mail….5th row, front and center!  OMG!  We were happy girls!  🙂

I remember what I wore.  I remember being escorted by an usher, right down the center isle to row 5, and just about bursting with excitement!  Yes, and I remember what Mick wore, and his blue eyes, and the magic…

What a night!

We were good girls.  We didn’t do anything unseemly.  About as risqué as we got was to write love letters to Mick (Diane’s letter was probably to Keith), and stuffed them under what we thought….hoped…was the dressing room door.  (Wonder who ended up with those?? 🙂  )

Since then I’ve seen the Stones close to 40 times, from London to Los Angeles.  Never paid $3.50 for a ticket again though! Some of the people I’ve met through the Stones group on the net called “Undercover”, have turned out to be wonderful friends.  Laura and Joel, frequently mentioned here, are two of them.

I’m wearing my “Stones Jacket” here.  Once in my second row seat in Oakland, CA, Mick tossed out his water bottle, and some of the water landed on my jacket.  Of course, I’ll never wash it!

He’s got amazing energy!

Many faces of Mick over the years:

He’s intelligent, loaded with charisma, has a great sense of humor, a mind for business, and oh yes, he’s a great dad!  (good thing, as number 8 is on the way).

Daughter Georgia, wife  (at one time) Jerry, son James

Ok, not such a great husband.  Nobody’s perfect.

🙂

The band has magic, and they keep getting better and better.

So here’s to YOU Sir Michael Philip Jagger….maker of great music, and giver of much energy, and joy and just plain fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

, Never Never Never Stop!

*****All pictures of Mick and  family and the Stones here were taken by someone else and I give whomever that was all the credit, and thank them kindly!*****

Leaving Missoula, Montana on July 21, we wind our way south on Hwy 93, surrounded by mountains, rivers and trees….all of which calm my spirit.  Even without watching TV or listening to the radio, I am aware of all the various news of late, and my spirit feels wounded by it.

It’s good to be out here where nature still rules.  Nature can be a lot of things, but right now for me it is a healing balm.

Our destination is in Idaho.  To the east the Bitterroot Mountains rise.

The Bitterroot Mountains are named for a little pink flower.  Long before Lewis and Clark wrote about this flower in their journals, the native people were using it’s long taproot for a major food source.

To the west, on our right, the Salmon River flows by.

We arrive at our destination early in the afternoon.  We get a site between some trees, with the river in our back yard.

It’s hot here, but we have the AC, the awning, and the dogs can soak in the river whenever they get the urge.

Across a small footbridge is an island where dogs are allowed to run free.  For me, that was the deciding factor in choosing this RV park.

Freedom!

We are relaxed, content, and I’m glad for a place where I can sit quietly and watch the river flow by.

No, not unsure feelings…not those kind of reservations!  This post is about insuring places to stay!

Foggy morning at Birdland Bay RV Resort.

Since I started full-timing almost 2 years ago now, I have found that often it feels better if I know where I’m going and have a plan, and have the security of a place to stay when I get there.  This is more important to me in the summer because it’s busier, and especially around the summer holidays.  Since I haven’t been feeling 100%, it seems even more important, AND I want hook-ups…no boon docking right now.   I understand that some folks like to wing it, and not know where they are going until they get there, and sometimes I find that fun too. But not right now.

Sooo, over the past week I’ve been planning.  I didn’t even know which direction I wanted to go.  I’ve been pouring over the maps and my Allstays app.  Allstays is my favorite app for finding camping areas of all kinds.  I got the $10 version and have never regretted it.

Nice place for birding at Birdland Bay!

And there’s the bird!

I wanted to reserve past Labor Day ASAP, because I’m going to have limited connectivity at an upcoming destination where I’ll be for 2 weeks.  It might be hard to reserve for Labor Day after that.

Yesterday I was finally able to wrap it up and get it together, and I have reservations through the middle of September.

We found a place for dog dipping in the Clark Fork River off the nature trail at Birdland Bay.

the plan is, we’ll be going through the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho, and into Washington where we will head north and visit the Grand Coulee Dam.  Next we’ll take Hwy 20 through the north part of Washington, to North Cascade National Park, then  on Labor Day,drop down to north of Seattle where my son and his wife live.  I have one week reserved there, with another week on hold.  They are willing to save that second week for me and let me use as much or little of it as I would like.

The Clark Fork River and beyond….from a little park in Thompson Falls.

This morning we left Thompson Falls and we are at Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula, MT for one night.  I spent a night here early in my travels and found it to be a nice place.  They specialize in flowers:

Flowers everywhere:

They even have their own greenhouses:

The gazebo:

Registration:

And more flowers….

Tomorrow morning we go on our way to spend 2 weeks near Salmon, Idaho, right on the Salmon River.  The RV Park I chose has an open dog area on the river where they can swim to their hearts content.  🙂

There is no AT&T connectivity at the park, but they have free wi-fi.  I hope it works!  Look for lots of wet dog pictures, coming up!

This morning at the Clark Fork River.

Here we go again!  🙂

So it’s time to move on.  July 13.

Below is my last sunset in Ronan, MT.

And it’s effect on the mountains to the east….

I haven’t mentioned my tires much recently, but I’ve continued to have problems with them, more specifically, with leaky valves….would you believe?

I check the air pressure before I get ready to leave, and sure enough, WS’s curbside tire is low and air continues to leak out of the valve after I check, until I’m able to get the valve cover on again.  There is a Les Schwab in town, and that’s where I head.

They come right out to help me and I explain the problem.  They get started removing the tire in less than 5 minutes.

What I’ve learned in the past is that these tires that I purchased at Camping World last July were balanced with sand, also called powder.  This substance has a tendency to get into the valve, even valves that are made for powder balancing, and it causes the valves to leak.

Caleb at Les Schwab, is surprised that these tires were balanced with powder.  He tells me that usually is done with huge tires.  He asks if I’d like them to remove the powder and balance the tires with weights.  Yes please, since I’ve been having leaky valve problems consistently.

The job is completed a half hour later, and JR’s tires are checked and topped off.  I go inside to pay my bill.  Caleb consults the computer and then looks up, smiles, and says “no charge”.  Huh?  “No Charge?  Why?”  He says “It’s not worth it”, holds the door open for me and wishes me happy trails.  Thank you Caleb and Les Schwab!!

In Williams, AZ when I went to a different tire store and they removed one tire and put on a new valve stem, the charge was $20.  I was expecting much more than that for this service.     Hopefully this will put an end to my leaky valves.  Time will tell.

On down the road we go.  Highway 93 turns right onto 200 and we travel a total of about 85 beautiful miles.  First the Flathead River and then the Clark Fork River wind along beside the road.  There are mountains everywhere, and some amazing cloud formations.  (No pictures, sorry, driving).  I see a bit of rain, but less than 5 minutes total throughout the drive.

Promptly at 1pm we arrive at Birdland Bay Resort.

It’s lovely here and my site is beside the bathroom/shower/laundry, which is perfect right now, since I won’t have far to carry the laundry.

Laundry building to the left of us.

Large size campsite!

I’ve only done one load of laundry over the last month so I will leave the mounds and heaps of it to your imagination!

I’m still taking it easy and my back is getting better and better.

Reminding myself to Take It Easy!

A wrong move now, or even too many right moves could set me back by weeks.  On top of the back pain thing right now, I’m also experiencing a lot of joint pain and old broken bone related pain which is really unusual for me.  Possibly from not moving enough?  So I’m slowly increasing our walks, and this is a beautiful area to do that.

Thompson Falls is a cute little town and I’m anxious to see the falls.  On July 15 we drive into town and I park near the Gallatin Street Bridge.  No vehicles allowed on it but it leads pedestrians to Park Island.

We are on the island, looking back across to the mainland.

I’m looking for the falls…but first we find a spot where Joy and Shiloh can take a dip.

Here they are in the Clark Fork River.  They are interested in the ducks.

View down the river.

Next we see the dam, and the ‘fish ladder’, build so fish can go up river as they are meant to.

But where are the falls?  I see a lady who seems to be a local telling some other people about the dam.  I ask her where the falls are.

“Oh there aren’t any falls” she tells me!  “No falls in Thompson Falls?” I ask, rather surprised?

Nope.  It’s all been rearranged and there is an old dam and a new dam, but no falls.

Well Darn.  Or damn.  🙂

Back at Birdland Bay we take our walks and find some pretty sites which I’ll share below.

Joy

A birds nest I found on the ground.

Now I’ll be looking for birds….

(From “Tumbling Dice”/Rolling Stones)  🙂

After 3 weeks here at Diamond S RV Park in Ronan, Montana, we will be leaving tomorrow, July 13.

My main reason for staying in this spot as long as possible was to let my back recover from its most recent re-occurrence of pain from an old injury (I’ve made this brilliant deduction relating it to an old injury over the past month).  I’d been having some back pain here and there but on June 14 while at Glacier National Park, I innocently bent over to adjust my blue mat, and bam!…OUCH…I haven’t been the same since.

Site number 16.

It seems like this past week end, July 9 and 10, it’s starting to ‘turn the corner’  and feel noticeably better, but still not anywhere near what I would consider my norm.

“Enjoy the view…” Yes, I have been!

Since I have no burning destination to reach…no “deadlines and commitments” to leave in or leave out (“Against The Wind”/ Bob Seger)   I’m just going to continue to “Take It Easy” (Eagles) for as long as I feel like it.

If I were still working I’d have had to take at least 2 months off, and would be feeling guilty the whole time, seeing doctors to ‘justify’ my absence, filling out short term disability paperwork…been there, done that.  Wow, another reason to love being retired!

Our next destination is Thompson Falls, Montana, just 80 miles away, where I have reservations for a week at what seems to be a comfy RV park.

Speaking of comfy RV parks, the Diamond S, where I’ve been for 3 weeks has been a very nice place to be with caring and accommodating  new owners Desiree and Rick, grassy sites, lots of shade trees, very clean and neat and the price is right at $29 per night  or $150 per week for 30 amps.   I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

**Catching Up With Kerry and Annabelle**

About a week ago I told you about my friend Kerry breaking her leg while working.  She is a full time solo RVer and I was worrying about her over there in Sisters, Oregon.  Since then good things have happened!  The city RV park/campground where she was living and had been working was insisting that she move.  She wasn’t sure where to go…she can’t drive now and is only walking a little with crutches.  Well, her employer, the city of Sisters, stepped up to the plate and she is going to be able to remain at the campground, though she has to be moved to a different site.  Also, her insurance or Workman’s Comp…not sure which…is providing some home care.  Someone comes to help her about 3 hours a day as often as she needs them.  They will do laundry, some cleaning, go grocery shopping and even do potty breaks for Annabelle.  Things are working out!

(I had more pictures to share but internet is so slow they aren’t transferring over right now).

Thompson Falls, here we come!