I wimped out on a bike ride yesterday morning, but this morning was 17 degrees cooler and lower humidity. I wanted to ride plus I wanted more exercise than I’ve been getting AND I wanted chocolate milk!
My start point, the RV park, at the top. The mapping software took me across the highway via a crosswalk and then south through Ronan on quiet streets.
The last 1/8 mile was along the highway, but there was a sidewalk most of the way and a business parking lot that connected with the grocery for the last bit so I didn’t need to ride on the highway which was surprisingly busy for a Sunday morning!
A quick, easy trip and all fit in my bright orange, insulated backpack:
I know … eggs! They made it home with no damage. The backpack is not only insulated, but it has an extra thick pad against my back and plenty of adjustment so it rides well.
I did it and was so glad I took the ride. I was hot on return but not awful and a nice shower took care of that.
Emmett and Oscar were happy to see me back in one piece!
We roll 80 miles north to Whitefish tomorrow. I have several stops planned including a grocery stop for a big shop loaded directly into Wild Thing II.
Yes, I didn’t really NEED to go to the grocery this morning, but I went for the ride!
No bike ride this morning. It only cooled to 67F and was humid and trying to be smoky so I bailed on a ride.
I’m writing this just after 4:00 p.m. it is 91F, 41% humidity and smoky. 41% humidity is higher than normal for 91F in Montana … good for fire danger but noticeably more humid than typical. I’m guessing the smoke is from Oregon fires.
Emmett and I played outside in the shade for a little while after lunch to celebrate finding his Wubba toy. It was lost for over a week and I thought I must have put it in one of the outside storage areas but finally found it wedged next to the little sofa. Sheesh. You’d think it would be hard to lose things in this small space but it happens.
Since it is not pretty outside, following are some photos from inside:
Oscar on the dinette keeping an eye on the neighbors.
The kitchen … small but everything I need. I wouldn’t mind a smidge more counter space but I am adapting.
That is a queen size bed minus a few inches in length aka an “RV queen”. LOTS of space for clothes and bedding. The bed also lifts up on gas struts. I have an extra comforter as well as Winter coats, jackets and some of my heavier clothes.
This corner cupboard makes a good spot for Oscar’s food. The food does not move around during travel! I have extra toiletries in the top and bottom parts of the corner pieces.
From the kitchen looking forward. I am considering removing the dinette and replacing with a counter … open section for me to have a chair and storage on the ends. Also replacing the sofa with a recliner and small flip up table. That would open that area up. Emmett could have a bed on the floor and we would have more of a “living room” area vs the aisle between.
No passenger seat :). If you missed the whole story, I removed the passenger seat so Emmett could enter via the passenger door vs the RV entry. He stumbled on the RV steps twice and then refused to use them.
The open spot also works for Emmett to nap and not be disturbed. The seat was really wasted for just me and not having it works better for all of us.
In the morning when I can have windows and door open, Oscar sits in the stairwell watching birds, people and whatever is going on.
One outside shot from this morning. It has not been windy so I put the awning out. When the sun gets a little higher and hotter, the awning shields that side of the motorhome and keeps things a bit cooler. There is also nice shade in my site.
We are quite comfortable in Wild Thing II. After 5 rounds, I have storage inside and outside organized and the only “extras” on board are some toiletry stock and a few food items. It has been challenging to change my buying habits to not always buying for a large pantry!
I have had the mindset for so long to keep backups of various food items, toiletries, supplies … So now I am editing my shopping list a few times so I don’t overbuy for my space. It is a bit tricky to have the bike and not a car for shopping when I am stationary but I have an insulated backpack plus a milk crate that straps to my rear carrier. I can fit plenty in those 2 carriers. The challenge there is bottled water. But, my basement storage is not full so I made a space for extra bottled water.
Still, I am headed to Whitefish on Monday and will get the Yukon. I am very much looking forward to having a car for a bit AND also looking forward to biking in Whitefish.
The cool respite lasted one day through the next morning and since it has been HOT. It just dropped to 89 from 90 at 7:00 p.m. as I write this post.
This morning, although I opened up when I woke, I had all shut and A/C on by 8:30 a.m. We are comfortable. The A/C and some small fans have kept temps in Wild Thing II 71-74F. Emmett and I take 2 long walks in the morning and then just short walks through the day.
I did ride my bike to town yesterday morning. There are two safe ways: one is a beautiful new bike path and the other is a controlled crosswalk across the highway.
I took the bike path. The RV park manager told me about it or I wouldn’t have known … no signage and it did not come up on the 2 trail apps I use. Not only does it go the 1 mile into Ronan but in the other direction the 11 miles to Polson. I’m not ready for that long of a trip but something to work up to.
A link to a bit of my return ride below …
I sped the video up and if you have volume on it sounds like I am on a speedway!
I intended to ride into the grocery store this morning, but it got too warm too fast and it looked like we would get rain and maybe a thunderstorm. We did get a few sprinkles of rain but no storm.
The only thing I was completely out of was mayonnaise and I had all necessary to make my own so I did. I’m a bit low on milk so will see how things are in the morning. I leave here Monday morning so not super critical and more that I enjoy the bike and want to be riding regularly.
I can’t see these mountains from my site, but the dog walking area allows great views and they are always changing: color, clouds … mood:
The traffic noise and heat … not much I can do about either, but we are enjoying mornings in the cool and inside projects in the heat of the day.
We did have to leave Missoula on Sunday morning, July 11 so had back to back travel days.
The drive was only 56 miles so we left Missoula at the last minute before 11:00 checkout with 2 hours to make a less than 1 hour drive for 1:00 check in at Diamond S RV Park in Ronan, MT.
We stopped for lunch at NinePipes Lodge. There is a museum, coffee shop with stuff, a “saltwater” spa and hotel. I pulled somewhat past all of that to a gravel area where another RV was parked.
Hee… at first because of all of the hotel/spa/museum/shop stuff and the very nicely mowed grass I wondered about getting out with Emmett …
But the water was FULL of geese and so the grass was FULL of you know what, i.e. an incredible mess once I got closer, so no longer feeling guilty as I picked up after Emmett … we had a look around before I had lunch with this incredible view.
St. Ignatius is a bit further on with historic sites and a famous mission. I wanted to explore a bit and if it wasn’t Sunday would have stopped at an Amish General store.
I didn’t get photos because of country roads and traffic !!! There was an event at the airport: fly-in and pancake breakfast. A helicopter looked to be giving ride tours, a seaplane was parked and lots of folks enjoying pancakes!
Next stop was grocery in Ronan, Montana. I had reserved a week at a small RV park in Ronan. I was unsure about being able to bike into town so stopped to get a LOT of water and enough other items that I had to play Tetris in the frig and freezer.
But, on approaching Wild Thing II with my cart…
Well.
I don’t know … inland seagulls are an issue apparently! I had to laugh, though and sent the photo to my brother who lives on his boat and is currently somewhere between Boston and Halifax. Anyway, he is on the ocean :).
On to the Diamond S.
It is a nice, small, no frills RV park. I got a lovely back in site on the end of a row so no neighbors out my entry doors. BUT, the “bad” neighbor is the highway. It is the noisiest of any spot I’ve been in. Until this morning, though, it was so hot that except for walking Emmett, we were inside and closed up with AC running so muffled highway noise.
Emmett, Oscar and I all were exhausted from combination of heat and back to back travel days. Yesterday, Monday, I puttered inside, napped and recouped.
Late Monday, it clouded up. I had AC going all night but this morning with clouds and rain on the way plus a breeze … it dried out, stayed cool and I have all opened up and no AC … which means road noise but I am loving a respite from heat and also fresh air vs AC so will deal with noise.
Other good news about the park is that there is acreage to walk with Emmett. There is also crosswalk to get across the highway and take quiet roads into town so will bike about Wednesday or Thursday or ???
For today, another chill and recovery day: a bit of RV bug removal and exterior cleanup, inside RV clean up (incredible amount of dust and dog/cat hair!), some meal prep AND it turns out that there is a huge Amazon warehouse close so as I looked at my buy list … a lot was available to be delivered before I am due to leave: Happy Day!!
It is 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14 as I write this. I have enjoyed a good day of walks, minor RV chores and kitchen time in the cool if not the quiet.
It is no secret that I very much dislike heat and I consider temps above 75F (24C) too hot. As I write this, it is 88F where we are parked in Missoula, MT. Tomorrow it is forecast to be 96F here and then a slight cool down and maybe some rain next week.
Unless something happens, I am headed a bit north tomorrow. Even though cooler tomorrow, having traveled today, I’d rather sit for another day versus back to back travel days. I am no longer of the go-go-go mentality and I don’t need to go.
Whatever … if I find out I can stay in my current spot, I’ll stay another day, otherwise we’ll continue on.
It was a good travel day. I left the RV park in Dillon slightly before 8:00 a.m. and did my big grocery shop at the Dillon grocery I like. I had planned on shopping here in Missoula, but thinking about temps … decided to do it in the cool morning.
By 8:45 I had shopped, stowed all I bought and we headed out of Dillon. Emmett and I had 2 walks at the RV park before leaving but we also stopped at 2 rest areas that had nice walk areas and 1 had a large fenced area for off leash. Emmett has decided that these pet areas are great for a bit of a sniff around.
After a pre-arrival stop for fuel, we rolled into Jim n Mary’s RV park in Missoula about 1:15 p.m. I was able to trade my pull through in the sun for a shady back in site. (Per the office persons an amazing amount of RVrs will not take back in sites!) AND, the site is right next to the laundry. And showers … I typically use my own shower, but as it is probably only an overnight stay I decided to hook up power only. I have water on board and came in with empty waste tanks but thought it might be nice to have a shower in a nice big stall for a bit of a change. The facilities here are particularly nice. I only used them once on a winter trip when the Winnebago was winterized, but took a peak while my laundry was going and the showers and restrooms are spotless and nice.
Back to arrival. Parked, plugged in, turned on house A/C, started my load of laundry and then sat in the cool.
Emmett and I took one walk so far … hot, but we went from shady patch to shady patch. Still, we arrived back hot and tired.
Oscar’s travel day was calm. He headed for his spot under the covers on the little sofa as soon as I moved his litter box which he now knows is the signal for traveling. BUT, no howling. Emmett rides mostly on the floor somewhat next to me and oddly does not go to sleep. Between heat, travel “stress”, prepping to move, parking, laundry and walks … we are all exhausted.
It is 6:16 p.m. We have had our supper. I would like to go to bed!
Gosh … dull post, no photos … RV life is sometimes just “regular life”.
July 8, my last full day in Dillon … I biked to a Mexican restaurant for an early lunch and had not only a great meal but the BEST iced tea! I typically do not order restaurant iced tea but I didn’t want soda or water … anyway, so good. It turns out they brew their own blend.
I messed up settings on my Insta360 X5 video from the bike so nothing … so sad!
To today, Thursday July 9. A bit ago, I made reservations at a campground in Ennis, MT for today through 7/14. Ennis is in Madison Valley … a river runs through it … YES, that river: Madison River.
Based on reading and the internet, Ennis was high on my list for possible new place to live.
Maybe I over-hyped it in my mind.
And it is a crazy thing about new places. I often connect immediately or reject immediately or some places grow on me. I drove into Ennis and just thought … I do not want to stay here. I was 1.5 hours early for check in time so drove around and then into the RV park to see what it looked like. And I drove back out and headed back to Dillon.
The drive to and fro is absolutely beautiful so no regrets. A scenic overlook between Virginia City and Ennis …
I didn’t want to get out as it was not level and I didn’t feel comfortable with just parking brake.
But, it was a gorgeous view!
Continuing on to Ennis. I don’t know if I have words for why I instantly did not like the area. It was busy. There were a lot of cookie cutter neighborhoods on the fringe. I just did not like it at all.
As noted above, I was early for check in and checked out the RV park which had the smallest, tightest spots that I have ever seen. The grounds were landscaped nicely and as advertised it was adjacent (walkable/bikeable) to town. I just wanted to be gone so I turned around and headed back to Dillon (74 miles).
My old spot was not available but I have a nice shady spot for 2 nights and then I’m headed back to Missoula for a night.
The other wrinkle in the travel is that Ennis was to be 101 and 103 on Saturday/Sunday. Dillon is forecast to be mid-upper 90’s as is Missoula.
Currently, my plan is to leave Dillon very early on Saturday, do a big shop in Missoula before noon check in at Jim and Mary’s. Then leave early Sunday for a slightly cooler destination north of Missoula.
