BILLINGS, MONTANA

We located Chapel of Hope and found Jim and Jackie here. We have worked on 3 projects with them now. We will be working with Phil and Carolyn during our two week stay here. Jean and Sue Eisele are here also for a few days waiting for a part for their RV. We worked with them in Lusk, Wy. Phil and Carolyn drove us up to the church building which is on a hill. It will be a nice sized church. We saw a doe with triplets but I did not have my camera.

Thursday Jim and Jackie left for another project.

From 2010-07-27

After the guys got back from a days work, we moved our RV into Jim and Jackie's spot. Katie was not happy about the move, but she sure was surprised that the ride was very short, just in the parking lot. Friday we were invited over to Phil and Carolyn's to play Chicken Feet, a domino game.

Saturday we drove into Billings to the Farmer's Market which is a big one.

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We went to this when we were here 2 years ago. Our bags were full of raspberries, blueberries, Marrion berries, onions, potatoes, rhubarb, lettuce and a whole chicken.

While in Billings, we stopped at an RV store for a part for our awning. They had a 42 foot Winnebago motor home there so we took a look. I must say I have found the motor home that has comparable storage as our 5th wheel with the living room in the middle, giving more of a homey look in my mind. I think I could live in this one. Allan liked the underside. Price is the only problem. It was listed at $330,000. A couple walked up to us while we were looking. They had just purchased the motor home. They had a fifth wheel and had been investigating motor homes for about two years. We were so happy for them on their new purchase.

Allan missed out on the buffalo hunt, but we had buffalo burgers at the potluck after church on Sunday. After the cookout, we drove to the mall where they were having an exhibit of "Bodies Human". We were not allowed to take pictures. The main goal is to educate the public about the inner workings of the human body, as well as to show the effects of poor health, good health and how various lifestyle choices can affect our health. It was very educational and interesting.

Allan is working on doors in a steel building. They cut in a door and mounted an exterior door. He put on door handles, thresholds, metal studs and they are forming pads outside each doorway while getting ready to pour concrete.

Monday, Allan got a call letting him know about the death of a cousin, Dean Webster, whom we visited in Tucson this year.

Allan and I went out to eat at Olive Garden tonight with Wayne and Terry Peek, my ex. They are full time RVers and were passing through Billings. We will see them again at our daughters wedding.

We visited Yellowstone Christian College where we worked two years ago. We worked on the library and here are some pictures of the finished project. This is our first time seeing it completed.

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Here are some views from the new church building that we are working on now and a doe who sleeps near by.

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BEAR TOOTH HIGHWAY

Monday we drove 145 miles on the Bear Tooth Highway and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway which took us into Wyoming and back to Montana. It was an all day trip going up and down the mountains and around the curves, making lots of stops for pictures and just enjoying more of God's creation. This is our favorite place on top of the mountain. I got to make a snow angel which was a thrill. We wanted to walk down to a particular lake but due to a time schedule and the threat of rain we could only walk a short distance. Walking back up was not that much of an incline but with the elevation being well over 10,000 feet we were out of breath. While we were on our walk we saw one bird which kept following us. Wish I could talk bird. I would liked to have known what she was saying. We stopped at a rest area on our way to the top. When we were here in 2008 there were a few ground squirrels and chipmunks who hung out for hand outs. I think the same ones were there today. Allan and I stopped and talked to a group of bikers. One had been in Vietnam about the same time as Allan and was also a Seabee. They chatted for a while.

We took so many pictures but had to cut the number down considerably. The easiest way to put that many on the blog is do a slide show. Since you couldn't be with us, this is second best. Enjoy.
Double click on the slide show and it will make it bigger.

WARMING UP IN MONTANTA

The weather is warming up to the 80's during the day, but most nights are in the upper 40's. On Friday, Allan drove into Butte to visit the mining museum. After hearing what he did (going underground)boy am I glad I didn't go with him. He really enjoyed his tours.

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One of the stops was an old brothel. Let a guy out one day on his own and look where he goes. lol. They aren't in business now. This is a steel mast above the Orphan Girl Mine.

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They use cables and winches to raise and lower the man cars and material skips up and down the mine shaft. Some of the shafts extended several miles below the surface.

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Allan did not go that deep, but walked down into the first layer of the mine and saw how they drilled, shored and carted the materials out of the mine. It was very interesting , but he am glad he was not a miner. Twenty three hundred miners lost their lives in the Butte area while the mines were in operation. They also had a reconstructed village from the early mining days at the museum. Allan drove through town and photographed the Copper King Mansion.

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He went to the Berkeley Copper Pit mine that ceased operation and is now filling with water. The water is contaminated and they are working at removing the contaminates. Butte and the surrounding area is filled with historical structures and events that Allan would like to explore more thoroughly in the future.

Saturday was a travel day. I-90 passed the Bozeman area.

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We were impressed by the looks as we drove by. Maybe some day we will get to stay here and visit more in depth. We stopped at the Prairie Dog Town just off the interstate.

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Allan and I had been there before. There were not as many Prairie Dogs out. It may have been because it was so warm or I had heard that the prairie dogs had come down with some kind of disease and many died. We pulled into the Columbus City Park to stay for the night.

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It is dry camping with no dump station. The grass needed mowing, but it was on a nice river and we got a good shady campsite. The charge is free but they ask for donations.

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It was a hot day and on the weekend so there were many people rafting the river and enjoying the cool water.

We drove through some beautiful countryside on our way to Red Lodge, Mt. on Sunday.

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They had a big biker gathering this weekend.

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All of the campgrounds and motels were full. We stayed at Perry's RV Park in the upper area rather than down by the river. We had a view of a pasture of horses and saw two bucks and a doe. After we got settled in and had supper, we drove outside of town for the big pig races. There were lots of people there, mostly bikers but it was something different to see.

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MONTANA TRAVELS

We have made numerous stops since our last post. We drove to Kalispell to meet some Boomers who were camped at the Elk's Lodge. Dick and Carolyn, Barry and Cindy, and Allan and Jeanne went out to eat at a Pizza Restaurant and had a nice chat afterwards. It is always good to meet new people and hope to see them down the road. All the women were left handed and all the men were right handed. This means that only the women were in their right minds. Right?

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We departed Hungry Horse and drove around the southern end of Glacier National Park.

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We stopped at Browning, Mt. to visit the Museum of the Plains Indians. That was quite interesting and not expensive. It is a small town but it was booming with people. They were having the North American Indian Days which is one of the largest gatherings of US and Canada tribes. It consists of 4 days of contest dancing, sports and socializing.

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The landscape began to change as we drove to Choteau, Mt. to rolling hills and fewer trees.

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We dry camped at the city park. No hook ups but they had water and dump station for $8 a night. This was a large park with walking trails, community building where a wedding reception was taking place, rodeo grounds, and picnic area. We drove around town and saw down town, churches, hospital, municipal buildings and restaurants.

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There did not appear to be many houses for sale like most towns have these days. It has less than 2000 population but looks like a nice little town. Not long after we unhooked the RV a storm came up. They were predicting heavy winds and hail. The sky got dark and we did get some rain but it did not last long.

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The worst of the storm passed further north of us. Allan got a picture of a double rainbow.

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We attended church Sunday morning. Choteau is near one of the most important paleontology sites in the world. (Egg Mountain)

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Allan signed us up for the Escapees chapter rally for Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to be held at Devils Elbow Recreation Area about 12 miles from Helena, Mt. We pulled in a day early as did our friends Ken and Bea and got good sites. Both had a good view of the lake.

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The sites were huge with gravel, large enough for two RV's at $5 a night with America the Beautiful Senior Pass card. Water was available before you pulled into your site but no dump station .

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We met new friends and enjoyed good food, games and socializing.

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While we were there we went on a boat tour of the lake which is a dammed section of the Missouri River. This was very informative and beautiful.

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We saw many different birds including vultures, eagles, and pelicans. Lewis and Clark explored this area. We were able to run the generator some during the day so I did some genealogy work. Two of the days were quite warm, but we also had winds several days. Allan put our awning out, one of the very few times we have had it out and the wind got it and bent a piece on the awning arm.

On Thursday we headed for Butte, Mt. We got some pictures just before coming down into the valley of Butte.

From 2010-07-16

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

We spent the day in Glacier National Park. We visited here about 8 years ago in the fall. At that time there was less snow, but they were working on the Road to the Sun like they are today. The avalanches and running water are hard on the road. Glacier provides a bus free of charge to numerous stops in the park. They run about every 15-30 minutes. We went to Logan Pass where there was quite a bit of snow in that area. We saw several mountain goats along the way. Allan walked up the mountain in the snow and saw some people skiing and snow shoeing. We met some people from Florida and Oklahoma on the bus and had a nice chat with them. We stopped at a board walk that followed a river into an old growth of cedar trees. Even the smells were fragrant of cedar.

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4TH OF JULY AND MOVING ON

Family Camp began on Sunday. We attended the church services at the camp and then set out our chairs at our RV to watch the fire works. They were at the lake's edge. Also quite a few of the home owners in the area had their own show which we got to enjoy.

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Monday we worked at the camp and got the truck and RV ready for travel. We said our good byes Monday night and Tuesday morning. We have enjoyed our stay here at Silver Lake Camp and will miss the wonderful friends we made. Maybe the Lord will have us return here in the future.

From 2010-07-08

We made a stop for lunch. I was in the back seat as usual, Katie in the floor, usual riding spot and Allan got out to get our food. When he shut the door, it hit something and did not close. I looked up and Allan came back to shut the door again. He looked down and saw Katie's leash going around the front of the truck. Katie was what caused the door not to shut. He did catch her which was good since there was lots of traffic in the parking lot. We got her back into the truck and checked her over for any injury. She seems ok and she does not want to get near the door. We never saw her move to the door and don't have any idea why she did that. Anytime she is outside she heads for the RV and maybe that is what she was doing.



We spent the night at Libby Dam COE Recreational Area on the Kootenai River. It was free but no hook ups. It was pretty warm but cooled down quickly. We saw two bald eagles, an osprey, and a gaggle of Canadian Geese. You will have to look close to see the two eagles.

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It is so late before it gets dark here, but we could see so many stars.

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This is not snow. This is coming from the cottonwood trees.

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From 2010-07-08

Today we drove to Hungry Horse, Mt. on Hwy. 2. So much more beautiful scenery than the interstate. I saw a young fawn with all its spots in the woods near the highway. This is horse country. It looks like almost everyone owns at least one horse. Kallispell has grown since our last visit.