Posts from the ‘RV Trips’ category

More Polson

A beautiful morning.

Father, daughter and dog enjoying. We met briefly yesterday. Mom is along also but this morning Dad and daughter walked the collie, Carlie. I think they are all having a grand time.

It was such a beautiful morning and I am so enjoying the lake view AND a few things I forgot at the grocery so we stayed – there is a wonderful Safeway here.

Above is the view from the Safeway parking lot. When I first came through Polson, it was not long after I moved to the Flathead Valley from Los Angeles. There is a MacDonald’s here that has an even better view. It was astonishing, coming from L.A. where a view like this would command $Millions.

Looking from Polson, northwest towards where the RV park is located.

Polson is on the south end of Flathead Lake and the southern end of the Flathead Valley. Polson’s position on the lake often leads to warmer and milder weather than around and north of the lake. Although there are some condo and housing developments on the lake, there are also some wonderful older neighborhoods and a lot of public access as well as a public marina. The main highway stays close to the lake and the majority of the hotels and restaurants are of the diner and motel vintage. I don’t know how long it might stay this way, but I enjoy the mostly low key mix that this area has at the moment.

After our grocery run, I set up the office outside and write this afternoon, From Under the Awning ;) !

I’ve worked a bit, walked a bit and watched the clouds pile up against the mountains, but so far, it is blue sky over the lake and the valley. Karl has enjoyed the nice grass, shade from the just leafed out birch and breeze off the lake. It is 59F currently at 2:00 p.m. – VERY pleasant as far as the crew of Wild Thing is concerned!

Bob retired to his dashboard spot in the sun. Rving is exhausting…

Yes, nose prints and drool marks on the windshield. I am one rvr who spends as much time washing the inside of the windshield as I do washing bugs off the outside!

Wild Thing rolls

Karl, Bob and I are here…

Polson, MT – actually a mile north of Polson at what used to be the Polson KOA and is now Polson Motorcoach and RV Resort…LA – DI – DAH!!! It is still a KOA although not sure it will stay a KOA. This RV park, a mere 50 miles from my house is the place that I spent my first overnight in my motorhome, Wild Thing, on August 16, 2005. I returned a bit later when I had the Jeep to “practice” with a car in tow.

This trip – an impromptu trip – Polson was a backup destination for the first night out.

Yesterday – Thursday, I took the Jeep to a dealer service spot for an oil change which was accomplished quickly, but a leak in a seal in the differential required a return trip. As the seal repair was a 2-3 hour thing vs a quick LOF, I thought: “I’ll tow the Jeep with the motorhome, get propane, fuel, work in the motorhome while the Jeep is being serviced”, which progressed to “as long as I’m taking the motorhome out, I might as well GO somewhere”.

So…..

The current Walmart sits across from the Jeep place. The Jeep place does not have room for the motorhome and Jeep to maneuver. Wild Thing landed at Walmart, I unhooked the Jeep and delivered it across the street, whereupon WT and crew went off to acquire propane, fuel, groceries and some valves for the water heater – I do NOT travel without hot water!

Water heater valves acquired and hot water in the offing we returned to Walmart just as I received a call that the Jeep was ready to go.

By now it was after noon. WT, Karl, Bob and I had rolled at 8:45 which was about 30 minutes later than intended, but still…

St. Regis was the intended destination, but Polson was the backup.

Approach to Polson.

Karl on the dash and the view beyond.

Bob likes the recliner.

I like this spot. I like the view, the change of scenery, the change of routine, being “on the road”.

I think we’ll proceed to St. Regis tomorrow, but that will be decided tomorrow.

Wild Thing rolls.

the rest of my Saturday story

The rest of my Saturday – fetching the Winnebago (see 2/27 post “the start of my Saturday”):

I loaded the Jeep with camera, computer, WINE, dogfood/treats and a few other odds and ends that would allow Karl and I to spend a night in the motorhome if I didn’t feel like making the drive back home from Missoula, 110 miles south. Bob was situated with plenty of food and water, a freshly cleaned litter box and the assurance that we would return…sometime. I pulled out of the driveway at 11:20. The relatively late start was planned to allow temperatures to rise to the point where ice on the road would be water. That part of the plan was successful. Except for the 1/4 mile of road nearest my home, it was clear sailing.

It was that 1/4 mile of turning, steep, narrow, snow and ice covered road and my ever narrowing driveway and turnaround that caused a bit of concern. I nearly turned back. I had walked the drive and looked at the turnaround and planned how I would drop the Jeep in Bigfork and come in on my road with just the motorhome, but it just looked like it could be NOT fun. I went with a bit of a Scarlett O’Hara attitude: “I’ll worry about it tomorrow”.

Although the day had started clear as a bell, the valley was hazy and as I got south of Bigfork and the lake came into view, signs of an inversion were visible in the low cloud cover moving in. I stopped south of Woods Bay, parking in The Raven Bar’s lot…

As noted, The Raven is home to the Polar Bear Plunge, the January 1 swim in the lake. And, no, I have NOT participated. I’ve partaken of a brew in the bar on occasion, mainly for the view. Today, I skipped the bar, but used the parking lot to catch the start of the inversion.

We continued south. Montana Highway 35 hugs the lake most of the way between Bigfork and Polson, although above the lake and in some places quite a distance above with cherry orchards on the slope between the highway and the water. At about the 9 mile mark, the road heads inland as it approaches Polson. As I rounded the south shore of the lake, the mountains to the north stood out. While hazy, the fresh snow on the high peaks of the Swan Range made a majestic background to the lake.

I headed into a subdivision that I thought might have a spot where I could see and take some photos. I found a spot between 2 homes at a gated entrance to a wildlife preserve area adjacent to the subdivision.

While I was fiddling with lenses…

…I could NOT resist. I believe it was she. I am partial to the Northern Breeds as is Karl. Normally, he would be barking and sounding as if he would tear the Jeep apart to get at another dog – a behaviour confined to when he is in the car and he spots another dog, but this lady caught his eye and they exchanged greetings in a language of their own. I was hoping the people at home would come out and we might make an introduction, but they did not. We said good bye and continued south.

Polson is the southern end of the Flathead Valley and then begins the Mission Valley. The Mission Mountains to the east have several gorgeous jagged peaks. I stopped at a turnout near NinePipes to take a longer look and some photos. Even in the haze of the increasing inversion, they were beautiful.

The rest of the story… As I proceeded south, I decided that I would stay overnight in Missoula, just for the rv fun and change of pace and maybe in the back of my mind I thought to put off that last 1/4 mile and my driveway part of the trip. The overnight part of the plan went awry. A glitch in the repair of my motorhome steps meant that it needed to stay for further work. Although it meant returning in the Jeep, it did not upset me at all. I told the shop to take their time, like 2-3-4 weeks… Hopefully we’ll have had a bit of melt down by then. And also, I’ll take Bob next time and we’ll add a bit of vacation to the pick up – a REAL road trip!

So, somewhat anti-climatically, Karl and I returned with exactly what we left with and that is the rest of my Saturday story.

Looking backward

Reader Melissa in El Cajon, in an email to me, commented that her vet said that “orange cats make the best pets”. I remember thinking that was funny-odd in that most of the vet clinic cats … in my experience, have been calicos. And then I had to laugh as I was thinking that I have been, with Bob (my orange cat), in a LOT of vet clinics… And this led further to the remembrance of our – Bob and my – “many clinic” experiences between Iowa and Montana in the summer of 2006 and how that changed Bob, Karl’s and my life.

Martha Beck, in a her book “Steering by Starlight (How to live your best destiny, no matter what)” has a chapter with an exercise on “telling your life story backwards”. Simplified, it entails looking at an event or outcome that you consider wonderful and working backwards over the events that led you to this wonderfulness which often begins with a “Supposedly bad event that eventually supported my favorite thing”.

It is an interesting exercise.

One of my stories involves my orange cat, Bob.

One of my favorite things: my little house on its 8 plus acres of woods on a foothill of the Continental Divide

The supposedly “bad” event that eventually supported my favorite thing: Bob became very ill in Iowa

2006…Iowa, in the motorhome, wending my way back to Montana after a 6 month cruise cross country and back. It was mid-July. I had stayed in the mid-west to attend the wedding of my best friend’s son. Right after the wedding, I pointed the beast west. I stopped in Iowa to attend to some motorhome problems – Iowa is home to Winnebago as well as to many things RV related. I landed at a wonderful rural RV park: Colony Country Campground , in Iowa City, Iowa. I based here for 7 days – getting the RV maintenance done and then just as I was set to leave, Bob became ill.

As a side note, the extra time spent in Iowa was instrumental in the beginning of a wonderful friendship with the daughter of the campground owners – she manages the campground. I stayed at Colony Country again in Spring of 2008 as I returned to Montana from Florida. A wonderful spot and I’m grateful to have found the spot and started the friendship.

Bob was lethargic, not using the litter box, and had a temperature…the fact that he allowed me take his temperature was very telling. He spent the night at the clinic, which is a teaching clinic and staffed 24/7. The owner/vet phoned me at 11:30 p.m. to tell me that he was very worried about Bob as he was not eating. I had a mostly sleepless night. But when I got up at 5 a.m. I did a bit of a doubletake – he was not eating???? Well, he wouldn’t – not his dish, not his food. I was at the clinic at 6 a.m. with Bob’s dish and some tuna fish. He ate, he had used the litter box. I returned after 8 and picked him up over the objections of the clinic…but with antibiotics. We stayed in Iowa a few more days – all was normal with Bob and he was tolerating the antibiotics. We proceeded west.

Backing up a bit…while in the mid-West, awaiting the wedding date, we were in northern Michigan – Traverse City – near where my family vacationed when I was growing up. I have a great-Aunt who lived there at the time. I enjoyed visiting, was working, and also was extremely homesick for Montana. I perused the internet for Montana property. I found the listing for the place I now call home. It was listed at a price above my range. I asked my friend Kris to look at it for me and let me know what she thought. She looked. She phoned me after and said: “Ann, this place is you!”. I was on the internet, making air reservations to fly back, but it all felt wrong – leaving the pets, disrupting my work schedule, the cost… I called her and said that I couldn’t do it. I said that if it was right, it would be there when I returned.

Fast forward to Spearfish, SD. Spearfish was a place that I had liked on a previous car trip east. I wanted to take some time to look around. I also wanted to look at the Red Lodge, MT area.

But Bob became ill again in Spearfish. The Spearfish vet did extensive blood testing and came up with some disturbing results which pointed to a condition that would require long term treatment. I made the decision to head immediately for “home” and for my home vet.

We saw our home vet upon arrival in the Flathead Valley. Bob seemed fine. The home vet blood work showed no abnormalities. They ran it twice to be sure. Bob continued to seem fine and normal. $1000 in vet bills later and I had a well cat with no explanation.

Back in the Flathead Valley, I felt at home and started looking for a place -not on wheels – to call home.

The first thing I did was to look at the place that I saw on the internet from Michigan. The price had been reduced. I decided not to buy it. I could see the work that would be involved. I had been a bit overwhelmed at my last house which had 2 ½ acres of yard to be mowed and trimmed. My handyman from there walked this house and property and we talked about the driveway (good news privacy, bad news maintenance and snow removal), the flat roof, the woods…

I looked at a lot of “subdivision” places – more $$, less work … kept coming back to this place in my head. It was my birthday, I was looking at yet another house and suddenly said to the realtor – “I’m going to take Karl to La Brant and just spend some time”..it had been empty for months. I walked around the woods with Karl, sat in the back of the open Jeep and just took in the stillness and made up my mind that I wanted this. I made an offer in my price range…

So, the supposedly “bad” event that lead me to getting the “good” thing, was Bob becoming ill. After getting settled in the house, I found 2 mostly healed wounds on Bob – large wounds on either side as if an owl had tried to pick him up. This probably happened in Ohio, when I was parked at my friend’s, as this was the only place he was out early or late. Bob’s illness sent me straight back to Montana in perfect time to get this place, which is perfect for me.

Looking backward. The more experience I have at the way supposedly “bad” events turn “good”, the better equiped I am to deal with and in fact be grateful for the “bad” events, even while enduring them. In the midst of a challenging or difficult time, there is that knowledge that somehow, somewhen, something wonderful is likely to happen or be learned.

The road home – from the motorhome

Another winter storm is forecast for this afternoon through Thursday evening. The motorhome had 2-3 days of propane left. Temps forecast to stay colder than normal through the next week. Several decisions yesterday – get propane, winterize…

Karl rode with me in the motorhome on a trip for propane and a few grocery items. It was a beautiful day and the temperature had risen to near 10 when we left yesterday in the early afternoon. Flathead River was frozen in a sea of snowy sparkles, but no place for a motorhome to pull over for a photo. The road home, however, was beautiful and irresistible…

The Road Home…from the motorhome.

RV winterizing (partial winterizing) notes: Pulled antifreeze through the water lines (all faucets, shower, toilet – missed outside shower), drained the water heater, left the fresh water tank full. Furnace at 50. Auxillary ceramic, electric heater in the fresh water bay. Water heater plug broke on removal, let warm water drain and used pliers to remove remains of plug. Need to replace plug before filling water heater. Water heater left on bypass currently.

Decided to do this partial winterize after spending $110 on propane in 2 weeks and more arctic cold forecast. Was keeping furnace at 68 and water heater running (on propane). With the lines full of anti-freeze and the water heater drained, the furnace is set at 50 and water heater is off. Propane use should be half as much. Electric heater will sustain fresh water bay at the lower furnace setting.

Through the woods and over the river

I believe I have mentioned that I do not like to drive at night. I REALLY do NOT like to drive at night – combination of being out of practice, degradation of my night/low-light vision and deer and other critters seem prone to crossing the road without looking both ways. Add to that, that on Thanksgiving night a lot of over-full, tired, possibly a bit too much to drink people… and cranky because they had to listen to crazy Uncle Whozit all afternoon – are also driving home. Well, I just didn’t want to be out there amongst them.

So, through the woods…

…and over the river….

…Karl, Bob and I went to my dear friend’s home in the Winnebago…a sleepover Thanksgiving but we took our own house!

Our parking spot above and if you look closely in front of the tractor plow, you can see Bob – he had a short outing while it was still light.

The driveway winds around a gorgeous meadow, the day was sunny and skies were beautiful.

Karl and I went for a walk around the meadow and then returned to the house to enjoy wonderful food and company.

Through the woods and over the river, in the Winnebago, with Karl and Bob, to a special place with special people – I am indeed thankful!