Wandering Spirit

Much needed rain, and snow…and add in some sleet and freezing temperatures!  And here we are right in the middle of it.

And we seem to be in one of the coldest places here in Butte, with temperatures in the 20’s for a couple of nights, and the rest in the 30’s.  The coldest day the high reached 34 degrees…keep in mind the 2 days before we got here we had a high of 90 and then 80….

There was no snow in the mountains the day we arrived.

It was a bit much for Joy.  My girl who generally loves cool weather is limping more than usual right now, as we continue to celebrate her 14 the birthday.

Some birthday gifts.  Shiloh shares equally of course.

Joy chewing on her new stuffed toy.

Shiloh ignoring his.  Can you see it sticking out from under him?  He isn’t much for playing with toys.

Joy’s footprint on the step.

i understand about the cold.  Some of my joints are uncomfortable right now too.

Shiloh doesn’t mind.  He’s loving it and feeling pretty frisky for being 11 years old I think.

Joy still wants to go for her walks though.  I’ve been trying for 3 short ones a day.

We are here until Tuesday, then on to Dillon, which won’t be better….probably worse, as another storm front rolls in.  The leaves haven’t even begun to turn yet.  This is unseasonal.  They say after we leave it’s going back into the 60’s again.

So this is what it’s like when there’s a cold snap in the Rockies…up here by the Great Divide.

Joy when she was a few months old.

When my last Golden Girl, Bonnie , passed away, I said ‘No more.  I can’t go through this pain again’.  Then 3 weeks later I was searching….

And  eventually I found Joy.

First Christmas.  Just over 3 months old. Picture was taken while she was asleep.

I have often called her ‘the most joyful person I know’ and ‘my wild child’, and ‘my wild and crazy girl’.  She has been all of the above.

This was her first sighting of the ocean.  Sand dunes, Sand City, California.  The beach below these dunes turned out to be one of her Favorite Places.

Her excitable, extraordinary, extreme exuberance has been a problem at times, mostly with her ‘obsessive-compulsive greeting disorder’ as I call it.  The thing is, for her it’s all about love-beyond-measure for everyone and everything that touches her life.

Same beach, so many years later.

So at age 14, she is 98 in human years.  She has various physical problems now, but that strong Joyful spirit is still able to overcome them.

I love her and her ‘brother’ so much!

We will be celebrating all week. 😀

Today we leave St Regis and head south….well south east, but eventually just south.  The going will be slow, to avoid heat.  Looks like instead we will be cold, with 30 degrees at night, and rain and snow in the forecast coming up soon!  This is great news for Montana with its raging fires.

Next is Missoula, Butte, and Dillon Montana, before we head into Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.

Again, Happy Birthday my sweet Joy Bell!

I don’t really know.  She didn’t tell me.  Maybe the same reason the chicken did?

Food?  Water?  Safety?

Wild turkeys are smart, contrary to what I’ve always heard.  And they can fly.  I saw one fly up to roost in a tree just yesterday.  (Turkeys that are bred to be eaten can’t fly because they are bred to be so unnaturally large that their wings can’t support them.)

These turkeys crossed the road to eat!  Someone put cracked corn out for them.

There are the adults, and two sizes of babies.  This mom has the smallest chicks, and she has 6.  I hope they grow large soon.  Winter is coming!

All the other chicks are larger.  Shiloh was interested but never barked.  Joy was all, ‘Shiloh, they are birds, you could never catch them even if you weren’t wearing that leash.  Give it a rest!’

But then…..

When the deer came by, Joy got interested too.  This is mom and her twin fawns.

They still have their spots.

This morning while we were walking, we saw this guy.

You can hardly see his antlers in this picture.  They are not large.  He must be young.

And then…what’s this??

Mama bear and two cubs??

Naa.  Just a wooden facsimile thereof!  But Joy and Shiloh had to make sure.

Wednesday, September 6, we leave Ronan, but not before stopping at Les Schwab for WS’s wheel bearing appointment.  It’s past the time for them to be checked.  Way past time.  While at the rally I find that Casita recommends checks every 12,000 miles.  I thought it was supposed to be every 15,000 miles, and it’s actually been closer to 16,000 since mine were last serviced.  Oops!

Usually  they just need to be cleaned, repacked with grease, and new seals applied.  But no.  Probably due to waiting too long, WS’s bearings need to be replaced.  Don shows me lots of silver flakes in the grease, which are flakes off the bearings.  He also shows me the worn bearings.  Yikes.

For most of my life I’ve know a big fat 0 about wheel bearings.  What would happen if they stopped working properly?  Well, apparently that’s when the wheels fly off….and then the axel breaks….all while you’re driving down the highway.  So be aware!

So, 2 hours and close to $200 later, off we go with new bearings, new grease, and new seals.

Who knew?

Don at Lee Schwab recommends having them checked yearly or every 10,000 miles.  Makes sense to me.

It’s  a beautiful drive to St Regis along route 200 and the Flathead River, and then 135, along the Clark Fork River.  Well, except for the smoke shrouding the rivers and mountains.

Since we won’t be going to Glacier National Park due to the devastating fires, I’ve chosen The Nugget RV Park for a week because they have a huge unfenced  open area with meadow and trails, where dogs are allowed, unleashed.  I’m talking acres….though I have no idea how many.

Shiloh is happy about that!

And Joy is joyful.

There is still smoke, but not as bad as it was in Ronan before we left.

We walk the paths in the woods every day.

The trees are watching us!

Better behave!

Waiting for Mommy to catch up.

The deer are watching us too.

We find the water trough in the same place it was last year.  It’s supposed to be for turkeys and deer….but….

Joy takes a moment to refresh.

There are new owners here this year.  The people who owned it before were huge dog lovers, which is why they designated all this open space for dogs.  The new owners plan to keep it this way, but at the same time are showing some frustration about people not picking up after their pets.  I hope this doesn’t ruin it for everyone.  Please carry poop bags, and use them!

Walking the trails we find Diggers grave.  Digger belonged to the previous owners.

He was a damn good dog.

Joy with her little white face…still enjoying life.

From here I had planned to go on to Birdland Bay, in place of our 2nd week in Glacier.  There are lots of trails there too, and river access for the dogs.  But now, I’ve changed plans again because it’s located near Thompson Falls, where the air quality is at the ‘dangerous’ level, due to the smoke.  Instead, at that point we will start heading mostly south.  We will have to make it through heavy smoke near Missoula to do that, but there aren’t a whole lot of options.  Actually no options that I can see.

Next post will be dedicated to us Turkeys!

Last year when I went to the east side of Glacier National Park is when I injured my back, so really saw very little.  This year I thought I’d try the west side and hope for some fall color, but the fires are so bad there now that all the facilities at McDonald lake have been closed for the season, most of the west side of Going To The Sun Road is closed, and parts of the town of West Glacier is on alert for evacuation.  As bad as the smoke is here, apparently there it’s worse.  Not only is there no point in going, it would be dangerous.

This is across the street from Diamond S RV Park in Ronan.  The mountains are still there but the smoke is so thick you can’t see them.

Looking down the road.

This isn’t daytime!  The sun is trying to shine!

Hopefully I’ll get back to Glacier another time.  About 25 years ago I did get to see it in late spring and it was wonderful….one of my favorite places.

So I’ve rearranged my plans and tomorrow we will be heading for St Regis, Montana.    There will still be smoke, but hopefully not this bad.  Before we leave Ronan, I have an appointment for WS at Les Schwab, to have the wheel bearings serviced.  I think it means I’ll get new ones, and have them greased.  Casita recommends this for every 12,000 miles, and it’s actually been about 15,000 since WS’s were last done at Little House Customs, AZ.

The Casita Rally has been nice, but I’ll tell you what…I’m on socialization overload!

I’ve met some really nice people and this is so not about them…it’s me.  I do better with very small gatherings….2 or 3 or 4 is pretty ok.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have been here and met everyone, but I will also be glad to be the off on my own for awhile.

I was invited to go to the Ninepipes Museum with Carolyn and Imogene the other day, so Joy and Shiloh stayed in the AC while I took off for a couple of hours.  I thought it was great when I was at the museum last year, but this time it was even better because they now give you a headset and remote control thingie, and you can listen to stories about the displays, narrated by the man who collected all the items in the museum, Bud Cheff, Jr.

The museum was named in honor of Chief Joseph Ninepipes, of the Bitterroot Salish.

This is the museum.  I used a picture of it from the internet.

I’ve wondered for awhile now….why is this called the Flathead Indian Reservation?  Who are the Flatheads??  This reservation is home to the Bitterroot Salish Tribe, the Kootenai (pronounced KOOT nee) Tribe, and the Pend d’Oreilles (pronounced PAWN-doh-RAY, believe it or not) Tribe.

So I remembered to ask one of the women at the museum.

It seems that when Lewis and Clark were here, and they encountered the natives that lived here, the sign that the Indians used for ‘hello’ was described in their notes as ‘ touching the fingers to the flat of the head’.  (They were meaning the forehead).  Because of this written description, these three tribes, the lake, the river and the reservation were all called ‘Flathead’, yet there is really no tribe by that name. She showed me the sign they used and it reminded me of a salute but different.

From the museum.  The shirt hanging on the wall was used in the movie ‘Dances With Wolves’.  Not made for it, but used in it.

This picture of Lucy Moses reminds me of ‘Grandma’ in the movie ‘Thunderheart’.

Peter and Mary Ronan, whom this town was named after.  Peter was an Indian Agent, and one of the rare good ones, apparently.  The Natives loved Mary’s long red hair.  There is a small lake nearby, named after her.

Lots of beadwork in the museum.

Back at the RV Park….Hollyhocks and Casita.

Joy and Shiloh have had fun at the rally, greeting lots of new people and a few dogs too!

I don’t know HOW it can be September already, but sure-nuff, the calander says September 1.  Time marches….skips…runs…streaks…on.

The Casita Rally here in Ronan, Montana officially kicks off today.  Casita people have been arriving since Tuesday, except for me, the early bird, who arrived a week ago Wednesday.

Here are a few of the cute little Casita butts present at the rally.

Here we are, and you can see more Casitas beyond us, too.

Would you believe…..

Dear  friends Laura and Joel (creator of the Joel Pole, my internet antenna), paid us a visit yesterday!  When Laura and I were talking on the phone quite awhile back, we discovered that our paths were going to cross here in Montana, completely unplanned, so we arranged for a day together, and it turned out to be really nice.  We visited, and Joel, computer guru that he is, updated some important stuff on my computer-type toys.  Later we went out for dinner at the restaurant in the Ninepipes Lodge while Joy and Shiloh lounged in WS under the air conditioning.

So far since we’ve been on the road, Laura and Joel have been able to meet up with us at the Salton Sea in CA, at Gilbert Ray Campground near Tucson, AZ, where we camped side by side for their first RV experience, at Yosemite National Park, and now in Ronan, Montana.  (Have I missed any Laura?) They are literally world travelers, but have been experiencing more of the USA in recent years.

The temperature since we arrived here has reached into the 80’s daily, which I know you probably like but Joy, Shiloh and I think it’s too warm.  Days have been lazy and if we go somewhere it’s in the mornings.  The rest of the day is spent either in the A/C or visiting with other Casita folks in the shade.

One morning we went to St Ignatius Mission, about 15 miles south of Ronan.  The present church itself was built in 1891, and it is famous for the beautiful murals all over the inside.  They were painted by Br. Joseph Carignano, S.J., the mission COOK!!

Amazing!!  The stained glass windows were beautiful too.  Mostly the colors in the windows weren’t showing up in my little IPhone camera, but in the above picture they showed up fine.

The smoke in the air from the many fires burning in western Montana varies from day to day, but is ever present.  I still haven’t been able to smell it, but I can see it.  Makes for some interesting pictures….

By the way, my truck, Joy Ride (JR), is doing great.  Now that I’m not towing, mileage looks like this:

Ten days after leaving Michigan, crossing Minnesota, North Dakota, getting the truck repaired, crossing most of Montana and the great divide at 6393 feet, we reach our destination of Ronan, Montana.

There has been a lot of smoke in the air since we reached Western Montana…so many fires.  I can sure see it, but oddly enough, I haven’t been able to smell it at all.

I have marveled at the constantly changing scenery, gosh this country is so diverse there is something for everyone.  Sure I’ve always known that, but seeing this variety of natures beauty just never gets old.

Driving/towing does though, and I’m relieved to reach sweet little Diamond S RV Park where I can just settle for awhile.

We were here twice last summer, the second time for a number of weeks while I was trying to recover from a back injury.  During that time, ‘Arizona Eileen’  dropped by.  She is the author of the must have Casita Manual called ‘Casita A-Z Owners Guide’.  It was due for an update (you get it on line), so she decided to stay here too, where she could get her work done in peace.  She liked this RV park so much that she arranged a Casita Rally here, which is finally coming up next week over Labor Day.  That’s why we are here…I just decided to come a bit early.

The views here are of the Mission Mountain Range.  The elevation of Ronan is 3,048 feet, and the mountains in this range run in the 8,000’s up to McDonald Peak at 9,820 feet.

Not quite so smoked today.  See the glacier up there?  This is in view of Diamond S.

This all sits on the Flathead Indian Reservation.  This reservation is 1,938 square miles and was set aside in 1855 with a treaty for the Bitterroot Salish, Kooteanai and Pend d’Oreilles tribes.

It’s hay bailin’ time.

Now however, with a population of 28,324 at last count, non-Indians outnumber Indians 2:1.  How this came about is a long and painful story and you can learn more about it if you wish, on Wikipedia by researching Flathead Indian Reservation.  Slowly though, the Native Americans are buying their land back.

If you travel, I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful area.  Some points of interest:

Flathead Lake.  It’s huge, this is a small bit of it.

Flathead Lake State Park

Flathead Indian Museum in St. Ignatius

The National Bison Range

Ninepipes National Wildlife Refuge

Ninepipes Museum

St. Ignatius Mission

The People’s Center in Pablo

Today we went to the Farmers Market in Polson, about 11 miles north of Ronan.

It is a thriving market with nice fruits and veggies, also art work, jewelry, soaps, flowers, etc.  I bought a beautiful Honeydew melon, Flathead Cherries, juicy just picked peaches, basil, a bag of salad greens, and some ripe red tomatoes!

I just finished a salad of the basil and a big tomato, EVOO and some black cherry balsamic vinegar (from Monterey CA).  That along with a hunk of good bread for dipping in the excess O&V…holy moley…food doesn’t get any better than this!

A smokey sunrise over the Mission Mountains.

Not really, since the eclipse was headed south east and I’m headed west, but I’ve been singing that song by Cat Stevens in my head for a few days now.  When the eclipse reached its max of about 89% where I was near Billings, Montana was about the time I stopped for gas.  I think I just wanted to connect with others in those moments.  I listened to public radio while they tracked it across the US, getting reactions, and you know, it was the scientists they spoke with that seemed the most affected and the most awed. Or at least they had words to describe how they felt.  It’s hard to explain how it makes you feel, isn’t it?  It reminds us that it’s all so much bigger than…our lives…our problems.  The universe is a big….clock.  A big time piece…running…always running with perfection, and the next eclipses are already scheduled on into infinity….

We have little to no understanding of it….why it’s there, how it works…who’s out there….

wow.          This is amazing stuff…

But anyway….the truck….Joy Ride…is doing FINE!  Over the past three days we have been gradually rising in elevation and there has been no sign of a problem.  She’s riding smoothly and there has been no misfires, knocks, chokes, coughs, or sneezes.  Not even a sniffle.  We are over 4000 feet now, in Big Timber, Montana, and I’m beginning to relax a bit.

I’ve written 2 five star reviews for the Bismarck KOA, one on the KOA site and one on the Google Maps site.

Meanwhile, the changing terrain never fails to amaze me.

In our travels, we have quickly ( in my turtle sort of way), gone from water wonderland, with green everywhere, to the North Dakota and east Montana bad lands and plains, open or farmed land, with hay just bailed for the most part, where trees are a rarity.

The stubble that is left after the hay is cut.

Now we are in the mountains, that rise higher and higher….it all just takes my breath away!   What an amazing land we live in!

America the diverse and beautiful.

Silos…not so beautiful, but they have a lot to do with that line about the amber waves of grain.

Shiloh, sees someone….couple of someones actually…..

Curious friends we meet on our walk this morning at Forsyth, Montana.

Our campsite just for tonight, at Big Timber KOA in umm, yes, Big Timber, Montana.

What’s this, trees and grass!  And shade! Like an oasis.

Tomorrow the plan is for Anaconda.  Yes thats a Montana town.  Then finally, Wednesday we reach Ronan, where we are going for the Casita Rally!

Bye beautiful horsies!

We are seriously traveling west now, as we leave Michigans Upper Peninsula on Sunday, August 13.  We stop at the KOA in Cloquet, MN, (nice… now that it’s not a lake as it was when we were heading east in May), Trails RV Campground in Walker, MN.  I like it, and they aren’t kidding, it’s surrounded by trails.

This is called the Heartland Trail and it connects to the RV park.  Nicely paved!

Next is Days In RV Park in Casselton, ND (eh…)

Finally, the KOA in Bismarck, ND, where we plan to stay 2 days and unhook for the first time since leaving MI. (A wonderful place, I’ll tell you more in a minute).

Site 52

Here we are excited about meeting up with Colleen and Fred, and their sweet dog Daisy.  These are the friends I met at Caballo Loco Ranch, south west of Tucson, and who also let me stay at their home/farm last spring for a couple of weeks, about 80-90 miles from Bismarck.  It just so happens that Thursday is their 45th wedding anniversary and we get to celebrate together with carry-out Italian at my picnic table.

No this isn’t the carry- out Italian!)  It’s fresh garden root veggies.

They bring me veggies from their garden and I’ve written them a 45th anniversary poem…”Ode To Fred And Colleen.”  ☺️

We talk for hours, and for awhile their daughter Holly joins us.  She brings me a bag of CJ Box books to borrow.  Fred and Colleen got me started on those!

One of the things we talk about is my increasing concern about JR (my truck, named Joy Ride).  Awhile back…months ago actually…you might remember I wrote about how it was ‘knocking’.  Now what I’ve learned is that it was ‘misfiring’ and it has continued to do it from time to time.  It happens when I’m towing and driving up hill.  The engine light hasn’t come on again but it doesn’t sound healthy, and we are about to drive into the mountains.  I’ve made an appointment at the Ford dealership in Ronan, MT where we are heading, but there is a lot of elevation between here and there  and my concern has been growing.  Fred brings me some Gumout and later as I research Gumout on line, one thing leads to another and pretty soon I’m reading about the Ford Ecoboost engine and some of the problems it’s been having.  Umm.  That would be me…

The more I read the more I realize I need to have this checked out BEFORE I head into the mountains.  I gradually come to terms with the fact that I may need to stay here longer than my 2 planned days, which would mean changing future reservations, and besides, this RV park is very busy, and would they even have a space for me to extend my stay?  I continue on my IPad checking out the 2 local Ford dealerships, and other Campgrounds in case I have to move.  I’m still at it at 1am. I don’t sleep much.

I really like this RV park and would prefer to stay put, so I’m at the door when the office opens at 8am.  Mark, the owner is there and ready to help.  I was impressed with his kindness when we were here in May, and last evening he came by while Colleen and Fred were here and visited while loving on all 3 dogs.

I’m about to become even more impressed….

I tell him I’m having a truck problem and may need to stay longer if possible.  First he juggles sites and finds a way to fit me in here, up into next week if necessary.  While he’s doing that he asks me to tell him about the truck.  He totally gets what I’m talking about ( probably better than I do), and when he finishes juggling, he calls the Ford service departments himself.  The first one can’t take me until Monday, which is what I figured would happen. (This is Friday).  He asks if I’d like him to call the second one.  It’s farther away, and I wonder if their courtesy shuttle will even come here.  Mark says if not, he will pick me up there and drive me back later.  Wow, talk about going the extra mile!

He gets on the phone with Devin at the Bill Barth Ford service department and explains my situation and problem.  Devin says “Have her bring it right in!”

I make Joy and Shiloh comfortable in WS ( that’s Wandering Spirit, my travel trailer).  I turn on the A/C though it’s not hot yet.  I figure the white noise and moving air will be good.  I rarely do this.  I leave the door unlocked in case of emergency.  Mark tells me if I get delayed I can let him know and he will make sure the dogs are taken care of.  WOW.

I drive to the dealership And find Devin, give him my info and keys and he calls the shuttle.  ETA…20 seconds.  I am not delayed!  20 more minutes and I’m opening the door to let the dogs out.  Now I will be waiting for Devins call.

But not for long!  Another half hour and my phone rings.  Devin gives me the news.  He’s saying many of those things I was reading about on line last night….but not the very worst stuff.  The catalytic converter is not damaged.

i won’t try to explain what I don’t understand very well but I can tell you that cylinder number 3 was misfiring ‘under load’  ( when towing) , mainly when the engine had to give extra power to go up hill.  That was diagnosed by computer…it’s not a guessing game these days, sooo….I am trying to feel confident that what they did to fix it will work. That would be new spark plugs, now coil boots, and by my request, ‘fuel induction service’, which is suppose to clean out carbon build up.  It was also time for another oil change, and they did their ‘multi point inspection’…tires, breaks, battery, etc.

The damage?  Ugh.  Labor = $405.  Parts = $266.59.  Hazardous waste disposal = $6.30.

Yes, OUCH.

BUT….if it really fixed the problem, it’s the lesser of some other ouches, like being stranded in the mountains with the catalytic converter burned up, for instance.

So when Devin calls to tell my the truck is ready, I call the shuttle guy myself and he arrives in 20 minutes to take me back to Ford.  Joy and Shiloh again stay comfy in WS’s A/C.

Now we are one big happy family back together again and we can leave tomorrow as planned.  I’ve done all I can do to fix this problem, and I have not canceled JR’s appointment at the Ford dealer in Ronan yet.  Let’s see how she does in the mountains….

And let me just say, this is one Kickin’ KOA Kampground, complete with Kindness!  Besides being comfy and cozy,   it’s clean, easy access from I-94, has decent sized sites, in the spring it’s covered with lilacs…now it’s green, has a nice dog area, besides a dog walk….but it’s the owner Mark who makes it extra special here….a truly caring guy, who went above and beyond the call of duty today to do his best to make sure things worked out for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bismarck KOA….best KOA ever!

PS.  (Still anxious about the mountains.  Please send good thoughts and prayers).

August 11…And Shiloh turns 11 years old today!  Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!

I’m so thankful he is in my life!

Love  Love  Love him to pieces!  Below are some moments with him over the past 3 years:

This one was taken only this morning.

Playing at a dog park.

Sleeping under the stars…and stripes.

Diggin’ it!

Deeper!

Contemplating the ocean…

And the mountains…

And the Grand Canyon.

Just sitting around looking beautiful!

Saying Merry Christmas!

Enjoying grass…

And enjoying it even more!

Happy birthday my sweet boy.  I couldn’t love you more! ❤️❤️❤️

Here’s a smile for sure!

Stay tuned for Joys  birthday next month!