Category: RV Trips

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Dillon, MT: the day before Thanksgiving…the turkey is IN the oven

We left Pocatello at 8:30. It was windy but nothing compared to yesterday and on the road…not an issue.

Gray clouds, but blue spots also..

Clear sailing!

Approaching Monida Pass.

Monida Pass is not a “scary pass” as in it is a wide open kind of pass…no tight curves or drop offs. It is known to be windy, but wind was not a problem as we approached today. And per the DOT reports, by the time we got there the road surface was wet and not icy.

It did get a bit foggy for a few miles at the summit.

But then…Montana!!!

And shortly all cleard.

And we “sailed” into Dillon where it was sunny and 52F and no wind and just beautiful.

Home in Montana.

…and the turkey in the oven…

I LOVE Montana.

Almost home.

***This trip! – this trip has been the BEST rv trip ever in my nine years of RV trips. I loved that I was able to do this trip long and slow. I loved spending TWO weeks at my folks. Srsly, this trip has been so good. I love that Bear and Auggie did so well and have been relaxed. This Thanksgiving, I am just so thankful that I was able to do this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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A dark and stormy day

Another day where I woke just before 5:00 a.m., looked at the weather…saw there was a high wind advisory for 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Ok.

It is 191 interstate miles to Dillon, i.e. 4 hours so I thought I would try to leave at 7:30 and ETA being 11:30 in Dillon, all should be well.

I use an online tool: www.thenextexit.com which shows information for interstate exits. I normally make a list of potential fuel stops, rest areas and optional rv park destinations so I can quickly see options as I go.

This morning, I made my normal list and also a side list of Emergency stops in case the weather deteriorated faster than forecast.

As I was doing that, the wind came up.

Bear and I went for a walk. It was VERY windy and it was not yet sunrise.

RATS.

I looked at Dillon weather which had an advisory for not only wind, but snow…blowing snow and low visibility.

Decision made…staying in Pocatello.

Dark.

Stormy.

Windy!… REALLY windy. It calmed mid-morning and then ramped up about 11:00 and continued.

Bear and I went out in the Jeep. I thought I’d hunt up a bit of Turkey. I had a wonderful Turkey dinner almost 2 weeks ago with my folks, Grandma Betty and my brother, but still…Thanksgiving!! – gotta have a little more turkey.

A little more turkey…a 3 pound breast. It is SO cute! The pineapple is there for proportion. The little breast is in a foil loaf pan.

I texted RV friend Sharon (Sharon and her husband, John, stayed at Summers RV park late summer and Sharon loves the convection oven whereas I love the gas oven, but in the interest of time…) inquiring about how to use the convection oven for the turkey. She texted right back with a recipe and instruction.

My “plan” – you know how that goes – is to do this turkey tomorrow afternoon …hopefully in Dillon, MT as the weather is to calm tomorrow – Wednesday.

Meanwhile.

Auggie.

Bear.

More Bear.

My venue for the day.

Another Auggie spot – the kitchen window.

A dark and stormy day.

***GOOD GRIEF!!! – Bear and I went for our “before supper” walk and were nearly blown away. The wind advisory was extended until midnight. Thankfully, our site is protected and/or at an angle where we feel the occasional gust but the slide toppers are not flapping and we are relatively quiet in the midst of what seems like a gale.

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Provo to Pocatello: a day with some surprises

I was up shortly before 5:00 a.m. and the news and weather showed I-15 (highway) dry. It was about 32F (freezing) but Bear and I went for an early walk and the ground and asphalt was dry. I had breakfast, did a bit of work and prepped to leave.

The weather had other plans.

Not just wind and snow, but the on-ramp I was to use was a “sheet of ice” per the news. It was closed briefly for the ice and a resulting accident.

I worked some more.

We finally left at shortly before 11:00 a.m. with a revised destination of Pocatello, Idaho.

From the road:

I couldn’t take a photo until we were through Salt Lake City traffic. SLC was not horrible and there was only ONE area of construction – RECORD!! A little wind at the beginning, but thankfully, it calmed before the worst traffic.

A little bit of Great Salt Lake.

Almost to Idaho…

Idaho!

Snow near the road…SO pretty.

About 20 miles before my planned exit, I saw signs for a KOA that hadn’t come up on my search. On a whim, I pulled off and looked it up. It was Lava Hot Springs KOA, about 16 miles from the exit. The online KOA info said it was open all year. I phoned, but got a recording. I decided to go thinking that at the worst it would be a 32 mile trip out of my way.

It was a 20 mile trip out of my way.

At about 10 miles, I received a return phone call – only cabins were open at the KOA, not RV spots. I said I only need power, but they said no.

The road was so beautiful, I almost went all the way just to see the setting, but light was getting low so I turned around and continued to my original destination: Pocatello’s Cowboy Mobile Home and RV Park.

I’ve stayed in some kind of awful mobile home/rv combination spots, but this spot is very nice. It is a newer mobile home park with nice wide streets and the rv park part is laid out well also. We are in a very pleasant spot for tonight.

Bear, Auggie and I are all well.

A pot of water is on the stove for spaghetti and sauce is ready to be warmed. I have spicy slaw and bread for garlic bread.

If the weather cooperates, we’ll head to Dillon, MONTANA!!! in the morning.

***BONUS – Great cable tv here so…I am ready for some football – Monday night football!

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Sunday in Provo

It was a day!

Daily bread.

Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa … upper left. And I used some of the remaining red pepper, jalapeno and apple in a cabbage slaw.

After the morning’s baking/food prep, Bear and I headed for a walk path I saw yesterday. It looked like the path headed to a spot to see Utah Lake.

But.

The road and the path are asphalt. It rained a LOT yesterday and went just below freezing overnight. I live in Montana. I know about black ice. I SHOULD have known.

No problem with the Jeep, but I unloaded Bear, had my camera around my neck and then went striding off to the path…and promptly was flat on my back on the asphalt. I took inventory before getting up. Meanwhile, Bear did a “Bambi” sprawl. We both recovered and got to our feet.

My camera…the UV filter saved the lens…more on that later.

We made our way carefully to the walk path which was dry.

We walked to a spot where the lake was visible and then the path got icy so we turned around.

The scene of the fall…

Back to the motorhome and I took some Advil as a precautionary measure, but I feel fine.

On we go.

I hope Auggie is doing some of my work.

The camera.

The UV filter ($20) is history. I was able to get a replacement, BUT…I cannot get the damaged filter off the lens. The filter was probably slightly dented and it will just not undo. I’ll take it to the shop when I get home. Meanwhile, I have a different lens on the camera and all is well.

Better news…the Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa was excellent and much enjoyed as I watched some Sunday football.

Sunday in Provo.

***My current “plan” is to roll north at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. If all goes well and I feel up to it, I’ll try for Dillon, MT for tomorrow. It will be a longish day but I’ve had 2 days rest and am ready to be back in Montana.

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Sometimes it is nice to be in a big city

The weather was forecast to be wet and cold.

The morning started with some sun between the clouds. I knew that I wanted to get some things done early.

As early morning was nicer than I thought it would be, Bear and I headed toward Utah Lake. We are in Lakeside RV Campground. Utah Lake is a freshwater lake about 1/2 mile from the campground. According to some online sources, Utah Lake is slightly saline as it does get some feed from Great Salt Lake.

First evidence of a large lake was the marina storage area…

…with a LOT of large sailboats.

And an adjacent ranch with the Wasatch Mountains as a dramatic back drop.

We wound around the ranch and back to the road that headed toward PetSmart…Bear’s Greenie supply was running a little low.

Being a bit early for PetSmart, we continued on and…

…found a store named Sprout’s Farmers Market. It was a large natural food grocery …kind of a slightly smaller Whole Foods. It was wonderful and I had a great time browsing as well as buying. Friendly people, especially a young woman in the vitamin/supplement area who is planning a trip to Glacier National Park next September. She had great questions and had obviously done some research – fun to speak with her!

Headed back to the campground, I noticed that the lake was visible. There were wonderful views but none at a place that I could stop and take a photo…the stoplight with a peek-a-boo view was the best I could get.

A bit of the haul: greenies, some Bob’s Red Mill Artisan flour (I’ve not seen this at home and am excited to try it!), fresh rosemary and fresh mint – I really hope they survive the trip home – ginger for my ginger syrup, the rest is for a cranberry-jalapeno salsa which hopefully will be tomorrow’s football watching snack.

Shortly after returning with supplies, the wind blew, it started raining and things looked like the forecast.

Bear and I made one more Jeep trip into Provo…Old town Provo with the mountains obscured by the low clouds.

Back in Wild Thing, the dark, rainy day encouraged naptime for Auggie…

…and Bear.

But the fresh rosemary and mint made for a bit of “light” on a dark day.

A fun day in a city.

Right now, we are set to stay until Monday morning. Hopefully the wind and snow north of here will have subsided and we’ll make a dash for Montana.