I told myself that I would put on my big girl panties and go to Bigfork: storage locker specifically.
BUT, I did not.
Good news is that as advertised, it was a lovely cool day. At this writing, 4:02 p.m., it is 73F with a nice breeze and all windows open … NO AC!!
Bad news is that it is VERY, VERY Smoky!
No Mountains!
No ash falling, but smoke smell is heavy
There are fires in all directions, nothing close enough to cause concern, but it doesn’t matter which way the wind is blowing, we are going to have smoke.
I guess the good news is that I do not feel guilty for just staying home!
Despite the smoke and the concern for those that are in fires paths, I am grateful for a reprieve from 2 weeks of heat. The past 2 weeks were hot enough that after morning time outside, we were mostly inside with A/C going from 9:30-10:00 a.m. until the following morning.
A note about Wild Thing II’s AC vs Wild Thing … WT had Winnebago’s “basement air” which I thought was great as no roof top AC units. But, now that I’ve experienced roof top AC, at least what the Bigfoot has which is a unit mid ship with main vent in the kitchen and secondary vents forward and aft in the bedroom … current set up is MUCH quieter and still efficient in cooling all of the space.
I’ve had AC going all night for the last week and been very comfortable as far as temp and sound. The Winnebago’s basement air unit was under the bed and was loud. It efficiently cooled but the noise!
About 8:00 p.m. 5 travel trailers arrived and were assigned sites on either side of me: 3 on 1 side, 2 on the other. Each one disgorged 3-4 children, multiple dogs and a plethora of child bike/trike plastic things. Noisy and chaotic as they were all back and forth and the children, some less than 2 were on their stuff, on the park road. Oh … also 2 extra trucks towing boats and all of the boating and lake stuff.
I toyed with just leaving but as it was hot and I was tired, I decide to just close up in the A/C, get a good night’s sleep and enjoy a quiet morning, leaving late-morning as planned.
I was shocked that the kids were out on their paraphernalia at 7:15 a.m.! Quiet time per park rules is 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
So, no quiet outside time with my coffee.
Not the end of the world certainly, but aggravating!
I ended up leaving just after 9:00 a.m. instead of planned 10:30-11:00. Emmett benefitted as needing to kill some time before check in at Columbia Falls, we stopped three times for walks and I did a grocery shop as well. Even with that, we hit our destination just after 12:30. Thankfully, they know me by now and my spot was vacant so there was no problem checking in early.
Today is scary weather day as well. The forecast was for 91F with high winds as a front whooshes through. We hit the high and it is currently windy … fire weather. We are under Red Flag warning until midnight.
Assuming no overnight events, it is to cool into the 70’s for 2 days before warming back up. I hope the cool is correct and I plan to enjoy it as well as do some outside RV chores.
But, we are settled into our spot … not an end spot, but nice and the dog park that Emmett enjoys is very close. I retrieved the Yukon and we are set for 2 1/2 weeks.
That gate is the dog park entrance. It is a nice, shady little spot and Emmett typically spends time having a good sniff around as well as taking care of business!
Oscar recovered from his travel day hiding spot and got comfy on the cabover.
Emmett relaxing post travel on his sofa ..
I laid down to cool off and rest … Oscar lounged against my stomach and Emmet found his spot …
They both are a bit clingy on arrival … even though we’ve done it, it is still a disruption in normal routine.
Me … I am tired and looking forward to a light supper, a rinse off shower and an early night. I hope no issues from the weather front.
Thoughts and prayers for all of the firefighters all over the world.
Last day of July, 2026 and last day in Rollins by Flathead Lake.
It has been a great week minus the injury/worry but no big deal after all.
I have biked around the RV park which as it is on 3 terraced levels is a bit of a workout even with pedal assist and throttle! And walks with Emmett are a lot of up and down.
Not even a twinge in my quad since the day after – YEA!
I have some dough on the go for Friday night pizza night:
I have done a bit of pre-travel day prep … all biking gear is stowed as is my outside chair.
Tomorrow we move back to Columbia Falls RV Park for 17 days! I will get the Yukon and I am very excited about a number of things I have ordered … mostly some RV items that I have been researching:
Water purification system to replace my “can and pump” setup
Beefier waste hose, connection and tank flush system
Better Surge and Power protection and monitoring system
Vacuum sealing setup for meat/fish storage
General supplies that are easier to just order than run around finding!
If it cools off a bit, I want to look into consolidating my Bigfork “house” storage and the Yukon storage … and/or buying a tow vehicle. This will likely not happen during this time in Columbia Falls but I at least want to think about it, look at the stuff and maybe make a preliminary decision.
And as always, I hope/intend to enjoy each day!
Emmett and I will walk at River’s Edge and Whitefish River Park and Wayfarer’s when we go to Bigfork. I need to go to the eBike shop and have them look at my front brake.
I have not been off the Rollins RV park premises since I arrived last Saturday … a lovely time in a beautiful spot.
Sunrise this morning (7/31/2026).
And Oscar watching for Emmett and me to return from our morning walk.
***Edited to add …not as good as my sourdough crust but much, much better than anything I could buy!
I was amazed to wake up to no pain and only minor soreness in my side quad muscle … I think from reading: vastus lateralis.
This morning it felt more like post workout soreness than injury and I am very grateful. Yesterday, I had visions of weeks of discomfort!
I rode my bike to the office again … twice. Received 2 Amazon orders and took back boxes for recycling. No issues with bike riding.
I am SO happy. I am going slow and taking it easy, but am so grateful that it doesn’t seem to be a long term issue.
It did get me thinking that I need to put together a plan in case I would be more injured or ill:
Emmett and Oscar to a safe place
Motorhome to a safe place
Maybe other things
As a solo human, it is different than if I had a spouse or partner. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought so this is a good wake up call.
For now, enjoying this great location and I hope to ride the Lakeshore road tomorrow morning. It is to stay a bit cooler until Saturday which is my travel day and it is forecast hot and fire weather.
Fully rested on Monday, we started the day as normal and then, I got into cleaning mode. Emmett is shedding excessively as per normal for this time of year and suddenly the amount of his hair, here there and everywhere got to me!
I spent a good part of the late morning and early afternoon cleaning. And also a long brushing session. And my own laundry … I am always talking about laundry, but I don’t have an abundance of clothes AND I like to do one load at a time since I am “transporting” from my site to wherever the laundry is located. Anyway, had a load of laundry.
So, Monday was a mix of cleaning, laundry, food prep, relax … etc.
If you look at RV life on social media it is easy to believe that it is one long vacation, but the reality … at least for me, is that it is “normal life” in a smallish space with opportunity to explore different places.
On to Tuesday, 7/28.
My plan for Tuesday was to bike into Rollins after Emmett’s 2nd walk … so about 9:00 a.m. when it was not yet hot.
The morning looked promising … still smoky but a bit cooler.
Second walk. An interesting feature at this RV park … old bicycles used as a “fence”.
But then … a bit of an issue.
I was picking up after Emmett and the deposit was on a small slope. I’m not sure how/why, but I suddenly had a sharp pain in a muscle of my downhill quadricep. I finished my task and thought I could “walk it off”.
Not.
By the time we got back to the RV, I was limping and could not put my whole weight on my right leg to navigate the steps.
Rats.
I applied ice, took an aspirin and had a bit of a lie down. I felt a lot better after.
I didn’t know if I could bike safely, but I had an Amazon package delivered and decided to try to bike to the office to get it. That went fine. I don’t think I would have been able to do it without the pedal assist and a little throttle.
Too late for a try into the little town and I decided it was probably better to rest.
Good news is that my muscle did not feel worse through the day and I am hoping for enough recovery to try the ride to town tomorrow morning.
More good news is that it was slightly cooler: 85F high and a lot less smoke this afternoon.
No frills, nothing fancy but a great location above the west shore of Flathead Lake and super nice owner-operators as well as some RV neighbors that have been coming here for over 30 years!!
There is great walking for Emmett and although a lot of up and down, I think I will get my workouts with no issue this week!
Unfortunately, still a lot of smoke plus heat. NOAA is not optimistic about smoke clearing or heat abating. We’ll see about weather after I return to Columbia Falls. I would love to come back for 2-3-4 weeks and if I come back for 2 plus weeks it would be worth getting the Yukon.
Getting ahead of myself.
I aim to enjoy this week despite heat and smoke.
Today was typical “day after move” slows. Even with a short drive there is still the unhook/rehook stuff on a move day which means more in and out of motorhome as well as time outside in the heat on arrival.
Travel stress: getting Yukon to storage which was less stress than usual as I was able to park it outside for this one week vs backing into my locker which has about 2 inches clearance front and back when it is in and I have to fold the passenger mirror to allow more driver side room for access. I back in so that if it won’t start, the battery is accessible, but it makes for a tricky maneuver. I am on a wait list for covered outdoor parking vs the locker.
Then, Oscar and Emmett. They have figured out the “moves” for travel days. But, I tell them also: “Today is a travel day”. I suppose they pick up on my “stress” as well as Oscar particularly does not like when we roll.
This travel day, I had a bit of anxiousness about access to the RV park which according to texts I was sent, cautioned against mapping software AND I knew a smallish back in site was waiting.
All that worry for no reason! Short day, Oscar and Emmett did fine with 1 howling episode from Oscar. GPS was right on and there was excellent signage before and in the RV park.
THEN!!! Owner operators are husband and wife. Husband was in a cart and took me to my site, then expertly backed me in AND helped me level. This is not really unusual in a somewhat tricky park like this, but what a contrast from last week!
I had a simple dinner “from the freezer” and an early night.
The bed in Wild Thing II is excellent! And even with heat and running A/C all night … I use some small fans on either side of the bed … airflow is great. When it cools enough to have windows open … even better.
At this site, on the highway, with the location above the highway and the quiet at night … lovely!
I am just ready to finish my supper preparations. I cooked some chicken thighs in the Instant Pot earlier this afternoon.. I am getting ready to cook a chicken-broccoli-rice side dish in a small electric skillet.
Mostly, I cook and eat as I did at the house. Sourdough has been abandoned … mostly because it is challenging to deal with the mess and rv discarding cleanup water outside (water and flour = glue!) I do have yeast and that involves less mess so will buy sourdough when I can, but even home made yeast items taste better to me than store bought.
Ok … some photos of the site:
Above is out the windshield this morning … zoomed in.
Site from behind and above. The park is terraced with 3 rows of rv sites so everyone has a view out the front. Class A’s and trailers with front windows benefit most for inside views, but everyone’s outside area has a lake view.
Not too bad to live here for a week … even with the smoke.
