July 4, 2022 by Lee and Tracy

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

Although the park has been available to us every other day (based on license plate) we have yet to reenter it. Partly that is because Lee’s days off fell on our non day (his employer rearranged the scheduled going forward) and partly because the weather was only so-so on the days we were allowed. The restrictions have actually seen the crowds significantly reduced (I would estimate by as much as half) so we decided to spend one day off exploring West Yellowstone itself.

Number one on our list was the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and I was pleasantly surprised. These smaller wildlife centers are a bit of a mixed bag but this one was reasonably priced ($15 for entry although we bought an annual $70 membership for two people) and had significant content for its size. The visitors center had numerous examples and we spent some time learning about the local animals.

Lee and I were fascinated to learn that the front feet and back feet of a grizzly are different. We didn’t know that.

After looking inside we walked outside and the area was surprisingly big. It had one giant area for bears, another for raptors, a building for otters, and finally a large wolf enclosure. Many people have concerns about animals in zoos but personally growing up near the Columbus Zoo (one of the best in the world) I like them. In my opinion it’s important for kids to see animals and it inspires them to want to protect them. Of course I am always concerned about the conditions the animals live in and in this case it was clear great attention had been paid.

At this facility, the bears and raptors are all rescues and would have died or been killed if they weren’t brought here. They also do something pretty cool that I have never seen before where they remove the animals from the pens and let kids hide their food. This allows the kids to participate in a VERY cool way and its good for the animals to have to search for their food. Keeps their brains active. We were not allowed to see the areas where the bears were kept when they weren’t in the large open area, and it is quite a bit smaller, but the open areas are very nice. Bears are solitary creatures and unfortunately can’t always mingle together.

I loved that each animal had a little bio

The raptor area also had bios for each animal and included 3 bald eagles, hawks, two owls, and a vulture. These animals were all rescued and were injured bad enough they could not live in the wild and the detailed descriptions showed the negative impact people can have on wildlife.

One of my favorite sections was actually the ground squirrel area and since they had just been fed we got to watch them run around. They were super cute and I found them very entertaining.

This little guy smacked the other one in the face

We also really enjoyed the otter house and got to see a feeding there as well. Once again they hid the food and made them work for it and it was great watching the pair of otters in the water environment. It was hard to get good pics because the glass was foggy but we stayed for quite awhile because it was so entertaining.

We learned sometimes river otters steal beaver dens

My absolute favorite though was the wolves. We spent a long time talking to a nice volunteer who explained the wolves were not rescues because abandoned/injured cubs are rarely found in the wild. Because they live in packs if a parent dies another wolf will usually take over raising them so these wolves were descendants of the few pups that had been found. Adult wolves with injuries do not do well in captivity and since the purpose of the exhibit is to show wolves in a better light they are not put on display.

We were lucky enough to see the wolf feeding and again spent tons of time watching them. There are various vantage points you can watch the wolves and they were actually in three separate places. One of the packs had four wolves and they were in the largest area and then the second pack of two was in a smaller one. There was a lone wolf all by himself because his sister wouldn’t tolerate him and the team was currently working to integrate him into the other pack. It was pretty interesting because these families have all sorts of dynamics and the keepers monitor them closely and rearrange as needed to achieve the best possible combinations. There is no breeding in this facility so this is simply done to make the wolves as happy as possible.

The proportions are less doglike than I though. They have much large heads and VERY long legs

Lastly the center has a great amphitheater which shows nature videos and an awesome gift shop. Lee and I really liked it and definitely plan on going back. If you come to this area with the goal of seeing wolves and bears I definitely recommend a visit, especially if you have kids. Seeing wolves and bears this close is not an opportunity you will get in the park and both Lee and I really enjoyed it.

So if you come to the area, I highly recommend it. Your animal sighting will be a “sure thing” and it will help a very good cause.

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June 26, 2022 by Lee and Tracy

The Loop – Ennis, Virginia City, and Nevada City

Update: This was the first Saturday where the park was closed so we explored further afield. We completed the loop in one VERY long day but I am splitting it into two blog posts.

Whenever we go to a new area, I pick up as many free magazines as I can find that talk about attractions in the area. There is a surprising amount of info in these magazines (if you read them carefully) that is more difficult to find online. One of the things I read about early on was called The Loop, but unfortunately I lost that magazine and only had a vague recollection of it. But since Yellowstone was closed and we were looking for something to do in the outer areas and I finally tracked down this picture in a Montana magazine. The Loop is in black.

The Vigilante Trail actually goes from Glacier to Yellowstone and was originally a dirt road in the 1920’s. The trail was historically significant because a group of local vigilantes (based out of Virginia City) coded warnings to frontier ruffians carving 3-7-77 into trees to warn people. They also covered the loop area and some people refer to it as the Vigilante Loop. If you are wondering what 3-7-77 is (we certainly did) it is the measurement for a coffin. This warning and group were so popular locally that the warning was later incorporated into the Montana Highway patrol.

Like many vigilante groups their history is a mixed bag, but the locals attribute the group to being a key contributing factor to the end of the Civil War. In mid 1800’s there were many confederate sympathizers living in the hills who were funneling gold to the Confederacy. The vigilantes tracked these folks down and hung a group of them which started the legends. The loop you see up above was a big part of the area they covered and is full of small historic towns.

We started the day heading north and thankfully it was a beautiful day although it was a little hazy. We arrived in Ennis first and I loved the sign below so much I asked Lee to turn around so I could get a picture of it. Pretty much sums up Ennis, which is a lovely little town. We also got lucky because there was a farmers market in process in Ennis and we stopped and I loaded up. It was my first farmers market of the summer and I bought artisanal raspberry jam, fennel, homemade dog biscuits, a hand thrown cup, and summer sausage sticks. There was a surprising amount of variety considering how small the town was and it was great. Love me a small town farmers market.

After Ennis we went on to Virginia City which is a great old mining town. Mining towns are probably Lee’s favorite because they contain lots of old west history and lawmen (and outlaw gangs) congregated in these areas. Virginia City, MT was one of the coolest we have seen even more amazing because it was saved by one couple.

In the 1940’s Charles and Sue Bovey from Minneapolis, MN were on a road trip and passed through the crumbling town. They saw it’s potential and started buying up property and worked to restore it. The town is now a National Historic Landmark and is operated as an open air museum, but the town clearly gives credit to Charles and Sue for its salvation.

The open air aspect is what I actually found interesting about the place. Many of the structures are restored and you can peek in the buildings and see what they would have looked like. Most of the restorations are extremely well done and although the dummies are a bit cheesy the displays themselves are really cool. We spent well over an hour walking both sides of the street and peering in every open doorway. There are also some actual shops interspersed with the historic buildings and it was super dog friendly.

Working stagecoach and train in the area you could take rides on

We generally don’t take Jack to crowded places, but it got up to 80 degrees on this particular day so we walked him along the boardwalk. He did ok as the day wore on and certainly seemed to be having fun with all the excitement. It was particularly crowded that day because they were having bed races for brothel day (that didn’t start until 4pm so we missed it) and one vendor told us they were getting lots of Yellowstone traffic that would normally be in the park.

There were a lot of buildings to look at but I had a few favorites. There were two general stores that were amazing. In particular I loved the historically accurate ceilings and wall paper. One even had tiny PO Boxes inside.

Lee loved the free museum with lots of artifacts, which for me was only so-so but I did like the many buffalo coats they had one display.

We both really enjoyed the newspaper and printing presses included a wonderful ‘

I went into the historic Anaconda hotel which accepts guests (and ghosts) during the season. The manager was kind enough to take me one a tour. It was really well done, in particular the beds were gorgeous and all antiques. If you like staying in historical places I would definitely recommend it.

My absolute favorite though was the arcade, which was full of beautifully restored arcade games, many of which you could play for a quarter. I cashed in a couple of bucks and spent some time in there and really enjoyed myself. In particular they have a couple of “adult” films which are pretty quaint in this day and age.

Here’s a pic from the “adult film” I watched. It was essentially two young women half undressed in bed. They weren’t really doing anything.

After Virginia City we headed east a bit to Nevada City which had some historic buildings, a railroad area, and a small village with people in costumes. It was getting hotter though and later in the day so we continued on the loop. I am going to stop here though and say if you don’t have all day to see the area, you could certainly just drive to Virginia City and then come back. That would be a lovely day trip. Intrepid explored that we are though we pressed on and I will cover that next time 🙂

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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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May 21, 2022 by Lee and Tracy

Yellowstone – Mammoth Springs

Our next full day off (with semi decent weather) we went to Mammoth Springs, with the goal of going to Lamar Valley. I wanted to make it all the way Lamar Valley, but the farther north we got the more snow showers we saw. Still it was a good drive, and since we left early we got to see a grizzly along the way. Once again I would like to stress that the best bear sightings happen before 9am or after dusk. If you are a late riser and a person who likes to be in by happy hour there are still lots of beautiful things you can see here, but bear sightings probably wont be included in them.

You can see the snow on his back. I took this one with my 75-300 Canon lens.

We also saw a bison jam on our way up, which I have to say I really enjoy. Lee not so much since he is driving, but I love the way these “furry cows” own the road. I may be less entranced as the summer goes along, but for now it tickles me and Jack gets VERY excited when he smells them.

One of the most interesting things about Yellowstone is how quickly the topography changes with the elevation changes. On the ride to Mammoth Springs we went through at least 4 different environments (including weather) and the variety is endlessly fascinating. What I wasn’t expecting was an amazing canyon area with a waterfall and some of the most beautiful rock formations I have seen since Utah. What a lovely surprise.

The waterfall was right off to the right.

While we were taking pictures of the waterfall a buffalo starting walking down the main road and he owned it. I got this great picture of the road, the waterfall, and the buffalo that I loved.

Right past that spot there was an awesome pullout behind some rocks and we got out and let Jack run around a bit. It was a magical little spot and made more so by the little patch of beautiful sunshine. I took a bunch of pictures but here is a gallery of some of my favorites.

After this section we came to a huge meadow area with lots of elk and bison. We saw our first “red dogs” which are what they call baby bison up here and got up close and personal with some elk. It wasn’t the prettiest area we have been in but the animal population was great.

Finally we arrived at Mammoth Springs and it started snowing again. This area’s claim to fame are huge hot springs area, but the weather was really not nice enough for me to walk around it. Instead we went to the visitors center which we both thought was the nicest one we have seen so far. The upstairs had animal information and the downstairs had the history of the park. Initially they only had a few rangers and the poachers ran rampant. Finally the Army stepped in and took over management which paved the way for the Park service as we know it today.

We also drove around the employee campus here which is where the workers stay. 50% of the seasonal employees are usually made up with college students from other countries but this year they are having a lot of trouble getting them Visas. Subsequently the park is incredibly short staffed and some of these facilities are empty.

The town is OK, they have Elk wander through town, but the weather wasn’t great so we kept moving east. I still wanted to get to Lamar Valley, but we did stop to see one more waterfall outside of town.

We were getting close to Tower Roosevelt when we saw lots of cars pulled over. There was a grizzly up on the hill and Lee wanted to test out the long lens he borrowed from the camera store. For me the lens was too heavy and here are the shots that I got with my 100-300.

Not bad but here are the ones that Lee got with his borrowed 600 lens.

Amazing right!! The difference was enough to make me think about getting a bigger lens but as you can see below the 600 is a bit much for me to handle.

We spent a long time watching the bear and were getting to leave when the bear stopped to take a poop. Then it slowly started making his way down the hill so we stayed right where we were at. A ranger came walking along (with a shotgun) and encouraged people to get into their trucks.. which we promptly did. Other people weren’t that smart though and were standing outside.

Finally, after much hesitation, the bear crossed the road directly in front of our truck!!! I got a video of it from inside the car and you can hear Jack let out a low whine. He was not so much a fan of the bear. It was really cool though and most importantly we were safe although the other folks just got lucky. Tremendous bear sighting and quite the thrill!!

After the bear we did make it to Tower Roosevelt but the lodge was shut down and it started to snow harder. We headed back the way we came and decided to go to Gardiner (outside the north entrance) and grab a bite to eat. Gardiner was a cool little town, but I will say I like West Yellowstone better. Gardiner does house the original stone marker for the park though and we had a great lunch at the Cowboy Lodge and Grill. I am not kidding it was delicious and the elk/bison chili was by far the best I have ever had.

It was a great day but weather once again stopped us from making our final destination. Still there is so much to see and do here it was still a great day.

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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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May 11, 2022 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in West Yellowstone

Thankfully our driving day to West Yellowstone was a really nice one. In order to makeup the time we had lost the day before we did decide to push through. The drive was beautiful, especially when we reached the National Forest area and we loved driving along the Snake River.

We even found a beautiful rest stop to walk the dog. If you look right above the front of our RV you will see a bear cave.

We knew we were getting close to Yellowstone when we saw this sign. This is where Lee will be working all summer.

After a long driving day, we finally arrived at West Yellowstone a little later than we would like but were excited to arrive at our summer home, Fox Den Campground. Many campgrounds here are parking lots, but this one is older and has lots of trees. It also has a very nice family running it and they have gone out of their way to make us comfortable. Keep in mind if you come in April things are still pretty muddy (and snowy), but the clean air and lack of crowds might make it worth it.

The snow and mud can make walking Jack a little challenging. Had to give him a bath the first day when he jumped into a mud puddle 🙂

I had heard some negative things about the small town of West Yellowstone, but so far I really like it. The prices are higher (which we were prepared for) but not gouging like we have seen in other small resort towns. They also have all of the basic services including post office, library, police department, two small grocery stores, several gas station, restaurants, and tons of shops. Since the closest cities are Idaho Falls (1-1/2 hours) and Bozeman (2 hours) I was relieved to see the grocery stores carried the basics. In all fairness though I like the town now when hardly anyone is here, but I’ll let you know what happens when it is full of tourist for the season.

In addition to the services I mentioned there is a health clinic in town and three more in Yellowstone itself. Again I found that reassuring. Of course lots of restaurants and lots of hotels which range from the very fancy to more basic. These places get booked way in advance though so if you are planning on coming up here (even out of season) I would do some planning. When we arrived April 22 MANY of the places were still closed and the park itself only had main roads open. We have learned that most of the business in town are owned by various members of one large family and as their workforce trickles in more places are opened. Even without those places though this is a town people live in year-round. I asked one local who said the roads to Bozeman and Idaho Falls stay open all year long, which I thought was interesting.

Getting here early meant Lee was the first seasonal employee to start at the camera store and so far he really likes the job. He worked 10-6 five days the first week, but we are guaranteed at least one weekend day off together. We can even go into the park after he gets off work some days but unfortunately the weather has been really hit and miss. It has rained quite a bit and snowed several days and we have yet to have one clear sky day off together to visit the park. Still we have the whole summer so we are trying not to be too impatient with the grey skies and overnight freezing temps.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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September 21, 2016 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Working the Beet Harvest – Orientation

Monday, September 19,2016

By design we arrived at the Bagnell RV Park very early, because we wanted to be able to change our spot if it was a first come, first serve situation. We lost an hour to time zone crossing the border and now we’re settled into Mountain Time for the duration. The campground is pretty small and being an “in town” RV park, it’s hemmed in on all sides by roads and businesses. Our site did have 50 amp (a big concern for us while the furnace is broken) and also backs up to a road. It definitely has a trailer park feel with many permanent units people are living in and a general rundown appearance. Honestly it didn’t bother me because I had pretty low expectations, but the folks a couple of spots down in a very high end Class A seemed a little agitated. We are supposed to have cable (currently not working although I was told a repair man would be coming today and he showed up less than an hour later and now we have 50 channels), supposed to have WiFi (we can’t get it to connect, but that may be on our end), and we have a lovely view of the giant trash cans across from us. Seriously though, we are here to work and sleep, so the only things that concerned me were a neighbor with a permanent structure and a barking dog, and the road noise. There are rumble strips on the road very near us and since people refuse to slow down that noise will probably be a permanent fixture and anything that interferes with sleep will probably be a big deal. On the plus side, there is both a McDonald’s and a Pizza Hut within walking distance, and there is a very nice full size grocery store in town. We also have 4 bars of ATT 4G. The camp host (associated with the beet harvest operation) was very nice and was slightly apologetic, but again, we weren’t expecting much, so I went out of my way to thank her for her help. It’s not her fault. We were thrilled the RV park has mailboxes and accepts packages, so with a $25 refundable deposit we got a box and a key. Folks have been wanting to send us stuff for a while, and I have a couple birthday presents coming my way! Our information packet says we have a paperwork meeting at a nearby hotel tomorrow at 1pm. So that’s what we will do, and get some information about what shift we will be working, and what our jobs will be. Our next door neighbor Juan is really nice and he has done the beet harvest four previous seasons, so that is encouraging. He says we will have fun. I hope so. – Tracy

Lots of beet fields

The campground

Our front view

Our back view. Despite the rumble strips cars go flying down this road right outside our windows

After getting set up we took a little tour of the town to try and acclimate ourselves. It didn’t take long. It’s a typical small town farming community, and it’s also the county seat, so it did have a Main street and a couple of other business areas. We stopped in a store called Shopko Hometown (which is like a mini Kmart) and found my Corelle dishes pattern on sale for 40% off!!! We originally only bought 6 of everything and occasionally when we have larger dinners I don’t have enough plates. Plus, they had a serving platter in the pattern which I had never seen. Score!! We also decided to go ahead and buy a new Igloo ice machine. Ours has not been working well for awhile (we have owned it three years) and they had one on clearance for $139 which was actually cheaper than what we had seen online. We found the bank, grocery store, a Mexican restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, hardware store, car parts store, and they even have a local Ford dealership which is great, because we need another oil change. We went into the car parts store and bought some cheap seat covers for $24.99. Everyone says you get very dirty doing this job, so no point in messing up our upholstery. We also stopped at M3 Meats. We love local butchers, but this was more of a processing center and they don’t have a storefront. The clerk came from Alaska though, and when she found out we had just come from there she went in and checked their freezer. We bought some great looking local Montana ribeye for $12.99 a pound. Can’t wait to try it out. Just to be clear, this isn’t really a butcher shop, but they do sell meat if they have it, and are planning to expand and add a small storefront in the next couple of months. I really liked the whole vibe of the town. Everyone we met was very friendly and it had the small town feel of where I grew up. – Tracy

The residential streets are nice

Our temporary seat covers

Picked up 4 of these beauties. Hope they taste as good as they look

The nice strip mall in town. The main street is a little rundown

My new ice machine

And the serving platter I have been looking for forever!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Well the first night sleeping with the road noise was ok. With fans on, I only heard a truck once, but again this was at night the road was much busier during the day. This probably wasn’t an issue for most folks because their bedrooms are in the front, but ours is in the back so keeping an eye on it. It may turn out to be a complete non-issue because we will be so tired, and otherwise I like our site because it is wide, so for right now we are going to stay where we are. Will see what happens.

Our orientation was at 1pm at the hotel next door. They had rented two small rooms and one had chairs and a TV and the other a couple of desks. The room was full with 17 people and they walked us through filling out the paperwork. It was pretty extensive and afterwards we went into the other room 4 at a time and presentation our ID’s for more paperwork. Then we watched a training video and walked through a short quiz. We were told we would be paid at the end of the harvest for a two hour orientation but it ended up taking 3 hours. Not sure if the pay will be adjusted or not. We also found out that the lowest level helper this year would be making a base rate of $13.35 (32 cents more than last year) and for other jobs the base rate was $14.27 or higher. Unfortunately we were still not told what our jobs or shift would be, but we were told that our site would be Sugar Valley. We were allowed to request day or night shift and we were told our foreman would take our preference and our job preference into account. Whether or not that is the case, we will see. I know the folks who come back for a second year all get to pick their jobs, shifts, and locations and I would imagine we will all take what is left.

What surprised me the most was the age range of the people in the room. Over half were in their 20’s or early 30’s and the oldest of the rest of us was what looked to be a pretty healthy 70. The kids were fun. Some had RV’s but most lived in worker housing (bunk style trailers) provided by the harvest. Most of the people here knew someone well who had done this before, so we heard some secondhand information, but until it’s all official I am not sure I trust it. We did find out that our trucks would be parked close to the sites and we could bring food, extra clothing, etc and it would be accessible to us during the shift. Overall for me it was fine. It did run a little long, but it was a large group and I actually thought the safety video was pretty good, from a content standpoint at least. Looking forward to getting to the training on Thursday and seeing how that goes. Oh and I know I am saying we will see how it goes lot, but honestly there isn’t much point in speculating. In my mind at least we have done as much as we can to prepare getting all worked up isn’t going to help. – Tracy

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

We had nothing scheduled for today and briefly talked about visiting the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is an hour away, but it was both cold and rainy. Instead we both worked on housekeeping items that had built up. I did spend several hours on learning Adobe photo shop for my recipe book and Lee spent some time on the phone with the nonprofit he used to work for, helping them with their annual report. We didn’t mind the extra downtime at all, but I can see why some folks might be annoyed with the downtime. Since we have a free place to stay and things to get done, it is fine by us. It actually have been hard to come straight from Alaska and jump right in, so we are grateful for at least the first couple of days. Tomorrow we have training at 9am and hopefully will find out our shift.

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August 31, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Seeing a Grizzly Bear

So funny story, there is more cell coverage in this beautiful National Park than their was in that crappy State Park we stayed in. But I am jumping ahead. Despite the stress of last week we did really have a good time with our friends Deb and Steve and Mario and Ellen. Every night we got together for joint meals and I was amazed at how easy feeding everyone was. We fell into an easy rotation where each couple took the main meal one night and then one other person provided a side of one kind to help. Lee and I love eating other people’s food and since Mario and Deb are such great cooks it was a really nice food week. Also it was great to reconnect with our Dreamers friends. Of the original group that got together at the RV-Dreams rally in 2014, Ellen and Mario were the last to go on the road, as she was waiting to retire. She’s a month in, and they are having a really good time, but still working through some of the mechanics of living in a rig. Even though they are long-time RVers it is very different living full-timing in an RV than taking long vacations and since we all learn from each other, it was great to share stories and advice. Ellen and Mario are headed to Yosemite while Deb, Steve, Lee, and I move on to more of Glacier, and I was so glad to spend time where our paths crossed and get to know them better. I learned how to use my timer on my camera for the shot below and thought the goofiness captured the spirit of the fun we all had together!

Ellen, Mario. Lee, me, Steve. and Deb being silly

Saturday, Steve and I were both off work, and since checkout time at the state park was at 1 pm we could really take our time. Lee and I actually prepped the night before, and went to a few stores in the morning. When it turns cold in the northern states, lots of products we used go on clearance, and since you can never have enough bug spray in this lifestyle we use this as a chance to stock up. So we bought lots of bug spray and new metal tiki torches at Target (on clearance) and then went to several stores looking for a new percolator. The boon docking overall has gone much better than I expected but we only have a small, cheapie camp style percolator for coffee in the mornings that I have to use a pot holder to pick up since the “handle” is just a ring that gets very hot. Since we love our morning coffee I really wanted to get this problem solved before tackling the next week. Unfortunately although they had them online we didn’t have much luck at Target, Walmart, or Bed Bath and Beyond so Lee finally recommended Cabela’s. Wow, was that ever a good choice. Not only did we find an awesome percolator I also finally found my perfect camp chair. The people who have hung out with me around a campfire know I have been in search of the perfect fold-up chair for over a year now. We started with the gravity chairs (which Lee loves and I hate) and have been limping along with canvas chairs we bought over 15 years ago. We spend quite a bit of time around campfires and for me, the chair matters. So I was $97 poorer, but richer in quality product when we left Cabela. Even though I am budget conscious, some things are just worth a little extra money, and I don’t regret these two purchases at all. On a side note, as I am linking these products I notice the online price was a little cheaper for the chair. I didn’t price match, because they were Cabela brand, but I bet I could have saved $10 if I would have used Red Tag. I really need to get into the habit of using that app!

Awesome rubber handle and large coffee holder capacity. (The image does not indicate proper usage of the percolator. Even a moron knows that’s not how you make coffee.-Lee)

Hard arms that flip up and a cool cup holder that swivels out on the bottom

When we came back, Steve and Deb were finishing their prep to leave, and we spent the last 30 minutes hitching up, etc. Coordinating with another couple on travel day could be stressful, and we have never actually followed another camper before to the next campsite, but Steve and Deb are very relaxed on travel day. I chalk it up to lots and lots of experience because they have moved quite a bit more than us over the last year on the road, and from the outside looking in, they have a very nice system. We are still working out the kinks in our routing, but we are definitely getting there, and we all stopped together at the local Cenex to dump and take on propane and fresh water. The campground we’re heading to has a dump station, and this is definitely dealer’s choice, but I like to dump prior to making the drive just in case you get to your destination and there is a problem. I just find it less stressful in general and Lee is fine either way so if possible we dump before leaving our current stay. The drive to Fish Creek Campground in Glacier was pretty short and we got there comfortably around 3pm. How different from Whitefish Lake!!

Lake McDonald next to campground

Lake McDonald

Cool rock circle someone made on the lakeshore

Huge downed tree we were fascinated by

Lee walked it, was around 75 feet long

Even though the park was very full, it was blessedly quiet, and the treed spaces give an illusion of privacy although you are very close to people. Plus 3 bars of AT&T and Verizon!! You wouldn’t believe the lengths Steve and I went to with our jobs to be totally disconnected for 10 days and it turns out wasn’t necessary. Crazy, and I have to say I am relieved, because we’re not crazy about the kids and our parents not having access to us for such a long period of time. We were in site B89 and Deb and Steve are in B92 across from us and although the pull through circular sites are a tight fit, we both got our 40 foot rigs in with minimal maneuvering. Unfortunately, we are still under a campfire ban, those poor tent campers are seriously hardy since night temps are down in the 50’s, but the solar is working very well. I should mention that Greg from RV Solar Solutions designed a solar solution for us that worked with our budget and our projected solar needs. So far it has worked out very well, and we have been doing a lot of experimenting on how long we can run certain items on solar. Yes, they are friends of ours, but believe me, I would have been mad if I was having major issues, but so far the system has been rock solid. All systems do require a learning curve though, who knew a toaster would suck up so much juice?, and we are using this time to learn. So far we have had excess capacity every night, except the one time we didn’t run our generator in the evening. Speaking of generators, our is propane and we used 3 tanks of propane in a 10 day boon docking period. That’s not awful, but Steve has the small gas-powered external generators and those seem to be more efficient. The major advantage to ours though is it can generate up to 50 amps whereas Steve’s can only do 15 (30 amp if he strings two together.) Anyway, it’s going pretty well, but this campground has very restricted generator hours. Essentially they are during meal times 8-10am, 12-2pm, and 5-7pm. The one time Steve didn’t turn his off on time he had a ranger knocking on his window at 7:02pm They take the generator hours very seriously here! I like it from a peace and quiet standpoint, but it can get a bit tricky if you are out all day, it kind of forces you to be back at the campsite from 5-7 and then really conserve for the evening hours.

We were all very happy though, and wanted to get out into the park right away. It was very smoky coming in, but Saturday night called for rain and we were all hoping that that would disperse some of the smoke. Months ago I saw a picture on Pinterest of “Pebble Lake” in Glacier and that was a must do for me. There actually isn’t a Pebble Lake here, but after some Google research Deb and I discovered the picture was taking at Kintla Lake. This lake is on the West side of the park and requires driving up a dirt road but we were all up for it. We took off at 9am, they were actually 2 minutes early gotta love that, and started the drive. The Inside North Fork Road was closed for a stretch so we were forced to the Outside North Fork Road but it was still beautiful. We had Glacier on one side and Flathead National Forest on the other. In any other place Flathead would have been amazing, but when you can look at Glacier by just turning your head it certainly came off as a poorer cousin. The houses that had both views though, one from the rear and the other from the front, were in an amazing spot.

Glacier Mountains

Flathead Mountains

Saw several of these signs along the way

The road less traveled

Lots of creeks and meadows, clouds were beautifully smoke free

It was a beautiful morning, with the best visibility we have had, so we took our time stopping whenever we wanted along the way. I loved that the views kept changing. Fire had come through here in the past and we saw the forest in varying stage of regrowth along with some beautiful prairies. This is how I always pictured Montana in my head and wow it was stunning.

Kintla Glacier close up

Kintla Peak and Kintla Glacier

The road by the way is variable. Some is paved, some is oiled dirt, and the closer you get to the Canadian border the rougher it gets. It was definitely manageable in our truck though and we saw several smaller cars going by. It is super bouncy towards the end though, which is kind of a good thing because it forces you to slow down and really look around. We were all on animal lookout of course, and Steve was dying to see a grizzly bear. We had made a joke that he tipped the ranger $15 to see a bear and kind of our running theme was “would we see bears?”. As we were driving along and looking at the beautiful views we came upon a really nice house, at a point in the trip where for a handful of miles it was private property as opposed to public land. There were some private residences on the edges of Glacier and as we were looking at one of the driveways I saw what I thought was two bear statues or plywood cutout silhouettes. After my brain registered what I was actually seeing, I told Lee to stop, and he backed up, and holy cow there were two huge grizzlies right in the driveway!!! They were looking straight at us from about 75 feet away and they stayed for a while until Steve got out of his truck upwind from them and they decided to wander off. It was truly truly an amazing moment, one I will cherish forever, and I definitely felt it was the universe’s way of saying, “yes this is tough but look at what you get to see…you are on the right path.”

My favorite pic

We think the little one smelled Steve 🙂 Only partially kidding here they have an amazing sense of smell and as soon as he got out of his truck it turned towards him.

Lifting it’s nose for a sniff. They moved off shortly thereafter

Closeup of the big one

You can clearly see the hump of the back which shows it's a grizzly

You can clearly see the hump on the back which shows it’s a grizzly.

A big clump of what I think was bear hair I saw much later in the day., I got out to check it and it feels like human hair

A big clump of what I think was bear hair I saw much later in the day. I got out to look and it felt like human hair.

The lodge that initially caught my attention. Nice view :)

The lodge that initially caught my attention. The bears were on the driveway

Since mating occurs between May and Mid-July (we think and) the mother’s and cubs stay together 2-3 years we think it was a mother and an older cub. This was a really great sighting because according to Western Wildlife.org “Grizzly bears have one of the slowest reproductive rates among terrestrial mammals, due to their late age of first reproduction, small average litter size, and the long interval between litters: it may take a single female 10 years to replace herself in a population.” All of us were incredibly excited and I was so happy that my hands stayed steady enough on super zoom to get the shot. In that moment, I felt really calm and very focused. And as Deb said, “That made our Glacier.” Not only did we get to experience it, but we got to do it with our really good friends. Plus Steve’s $15 tip really worked lol. That’s only $7.50 a bear…a bargain at any price! (I am kidding about the tip of course)

You might think the rest of the day was anticlimactic, but it was great in different ways. First we stopped at this little town called Polebridge (when I say town I mean 5 buildings and a street, and checked out their bakery and gift store. Steve and I are addicted to Huckleberry Bear Claws and these were amazing. Really cute store and we loved the little town in the middle of nowhere. Plus pastry yummy.

The one store

Working phone and mailbox

Little bit of everything and their prices were decent

Deb and Steve checking it out

I loved the individual bandaids for sale

Lee loved the lending library

Polebridge, definitely worth a stop

After leaving the town we also saw 6 deer at various stages along the road. The sixth was a cool buckling but I didn’t get a picture of it.

Lee’s picture, how awesome is that

In the meadow

Another pair in the woods

After another hour or so of we came to Kintla Lake. It was beautiful but unfortunately overcast by this time and I really wanted a picture with the sun out. We had a snack and watched the lake and Steve intentionally waited until we got a little break in the clouds and I got a few shots with the sun. Very sweet of him. We also saw what I think was an Osprey across the lake on the outer edges of my zoom limit. My favorite part of the lake and adjoining campground was it allowed no motorized boats and all the campers had tents. Even the camp host was in a tent, albeit a nice one. We were only 14 miles from the Canadian border and felt really remote, but it was nice to have a bathroom accessibly, lol. I took about a million rock pictures, I really do love rocks, and made another major check off my RV bucket list. If you come for Glacier I highly recommend staying at Fish Creek and making this drive. It’s long but so worth it, and if you have the chance do it with friends because it makes the experience so much more special.

Kintla Lake view to the right

The view to the left

Favorite rock shot

So much variety in the types of rocks

I could have taken pictures of rocks all day 🙂

With the occasional bird thrown in!!

So we headed back after a full day for some yummy steak dinner and a few games of Qwerkle. Next up: some hikes Deb has scheduled for us and hopefully some more animal sightings. So far this is a fantastic trip and I can’t wait to see what happens next!! And on a completely side note, our friends Bill and Kelly just completed their one year on the road. Here’s the link to an absolutely fantastic write up of their first year. She did a great job and congratulations you guys!!

Campground Reviews

Fish Creek Campground West side of Glacier National Park 4 out of 5 pine cones

Even though the park was very full, it was blessedly quiet and the treed spaces give an illusion of privacy although you are very close to people. We were in site B89 and Deb and Steve are in B92 across from us and although the pull through circular sites are a tight fit we both got our 40 foot rigs in with minimal maneuvering. Dump station and solid Verizon and AT&T coverage. restricted generator hours. Essentially they are during meal times 8-10am, 12-2pm, and 5-7pm. Well kept, well-managed, Showers available but only in Loop A which is a 5 minute walk for those in other loops. Keep in mind you need to by a $30 seven day parks pass (on top of your $23 a night fee), but we recommend the $80 America the Beautiful pass which is good for one year on all federal land.

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August 27, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in Montana

Although my expectations were set pretty low, for some reason I was expecting a ton of oil fields, we really loved Western North Dakota. Lots of farms with rocky outcroppings spread throughout and when we hit the Teddy Roosevelt National Park are we were both in awe. I didn’t even know it existed and was so sorry we had to pass through quickly but that is a place we definitely want to go back to. After driving through some more farmland we finally hit Belfield, ND which is known as the gateway to the west. The view went from farmland to ranches and the change in terrain was noticeable. Many years ago Lee used to drive a truck cross-country for a production company he worked for and he always came home from those trips raving about the views and now for the first time I was seeing what he had been talking about. I looked over to tell him and I saw a tear rolling down his cheek. (A bug flew in my eye. Shut up. – Lee) He was obviously visibly moved and I said , “Honey we made it. ” His quiet reply was “It only took 15 years.” That took me a minute to process. I was thinking it took us 9 months to get here, but for Lee the wait was 15 years. The moment was significant. The West is the place Lee has always wanted to be and I was so happy for him that we finally had made it. It was a great moment.

This sticks and bricks has quite the view

Big Sky

Lee intentionally scheduled a long drive day, so we would have more time with his family on Friday, but with my new work setup in the truck it wasn’t an issue for me. Also, my cell coverage was excellent. I have to say as much as I have heard that Verizon is the way to go for FTers, my AT&T has been really good. Thus far we have actually been in two spots where our Verizon friends had no cell coverage and ours worked. That being said, Lee and I are concerned about what happens when we get out west though and had talked about numerous options including a Verizon plan and a “pay as you go” phone. Right now the thing that makes the most sense financially is all AT&T., but things may come to a head soon. For right now, I was on a conference call while going through Bozeman Pass and heard everything just fine. I was absolutely amazed by that, plus the conference call was a lot more pleasant with the amazing views.

Finally, after driving for several hours we stopped for the night in Columbus, Montana. Our hometown is Columbus, Ohio so we got a kick out of being in Montana and staying in a town with the same name. Columbus, Montana is one of the really small towns out West with a struggling Main Street. It’s hanging on but you can tell it’s not a prosperous town. We stayed in a free city park, Itch-Kep-Pe , for the night and it was nice but definitely could use some TLC. The spots were good, it was near a river, and the people were really friendly, but it was all vaguely unkempt and overgrown. That being said, we were happy to stay there for the night for free and would even recommend it for a little longer stay, but it would be great if they hired a camp host to come clean it up. It could be amazing. A nice bonus was the local farmer’s market was on Thursday night. I love a farmer’s market, and this one, for such a small town, had a nice varied selection. Lee bought some hot, seasoned nuts and I got about $10 worth of fresh locally grown vegetables, plus we put back a little in the local economy which we always like to do.

Campsite in Columbus, MT

The downtown

Farmer’s Market

The next day was a shorter travel day and we were planning on a stop in Helena, Montana. Lee’s mom’s oldest sister, Mildred, stayed in this area of the country when some of the kids lived out east and Lee has a cousin Kim, he has only met once and another cousin Gerry he has never met. His cousins have owned this really trendy shoe and clothing stop called Sole Sisters on the main street of Helena for over 20 years. Before meeting everyone though we needed to find our campground and finish out the work day. The campground, Riverside at Canyon Ferry, was a bit hard to find. Lee intentionally picked one outside of town, because the campgrounds in town had pretty poor reviews, and were full anyway. It didn’t look like much from the google earth pictures but again, only one nigh,t so not a big deal. Wow, were we pleasantly surprised. This was one of the nicest campgrounds we have ever stayed at. It was immaculately clean, on the water, and there is a hug dam within sight. There is water throughout the campground , stone picnic tables and really nice fire rings all for $15 a night. Crazy!! We loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area, but I will warn you the drive to get to it is a little steep and curvy. So worth it though.

Our camper by the dam

The lake

The dam must be beautiful when the water is running

The hills behind us

View of the campground from the dam

Unfortunately we were also really starting to see smoke in the area so the views weren’t as dramatic as they could have been. August in Montana means smoke from fires. I talked to a person who has lived there a while and he said it’s normally about 20 days a summer of smoke and the worst is usually in August. This year by all accounts was really bad though, and they have even brought in fire fighters from Australia to help combat the flames. We weren’t near any fires, but the smoke does travel and the day we were in Helena is was “foggy” like conditions. When we got to Mildred’s house she was very concerned about the fact we were heading into the fire area and worked with Lee to look at road closures and alternative routes. She really wanted us to stay longer and we talked about it, but Glacier is a RV bucket list item of mine and we were planning on meeting our friends Ellen, Mario, Deb, and Steve. I loved Helena and definitely want to go back when we have more time. Plus, Lee’s Aunt Mildred will be very disappointed in us if we don’t go back and she is not the kind of person you want disappointed in you!! She had made plans for the evening so we drove down to Sole Sisters and checked out the shop. It was really great, with quality merchandise. This is not a place to find a bargain, but definitely worth a stop to check out what they have. Plus, ask for Kim or Gerry, and say you heard about them from Lee and I…that will be fun since they were so fascinated by the blog and the lifestyle.

Mildred helping Lee with the road closures

Mildred looks great for 84!!

Beautiful local catholic church St. Mary’s

I adored the name of the main street downtown

Downtown reminded me a ;little bit of Keene

Sole Sisters

Inside the shop

Great dressing area

Of course I had to try on some shoes. I was good though didn’t buy anything

Kim’s 15-year-old son Cole

After checking out the shop, where Mildred still works sometimes but only when she feels like it, we went down the street to Bert and Ernie’s. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but inside is really great and has a separate wine bar and wine area. I really liked it and the pizza was good. We didn’t even have to pay because Mildred very slyly picked up our check. Seriously, I am usually pretty good at spotting that but didn’t even see it happen. Gotta love a free dinner!! We said our goodbyes and I gave Kim my card so she could read the blog. She and her husband Devon were very interested in the lifestyle, and we absolutely promised we would come back when we had more time.

The 2nd floor of the main bar

Wine Bar

Wine area

On our drive back to the campground we saw some deer down on the sand by the lake. Lee pulled into a side street to see if we could get down there and there was a deer with fledgling horns right in the neighborhood. Neither one of us have ever seen a deer with any kind of horns so it was pretty cool. We stayed and watched it for a while as it calmly ate the persons bushes. It was a great day seeing people and a great campground but can’t wait to get to our friends and Glacier!!

Campground Reviews

Itch-Kep-Pe City Park Columbus, MT 3 out of 5 pinecones

Totally free and along a river. The people were nice and sites were very large and well spaced. There is water, but no dump and the bathrooms are very basic but it is definitely priced right. The campground was a bit overgrown and definitely needed some TLC, but the price was great and certainly good for a short stay. My AT&T cell coverage was very good. No wi-fi and there is a train track behind the campground and the occasional train did go by.

Riverside at Canyon Ferry Canyon Ferry Lake, MT 4 out of 5 pinecones

This is the nicest campground with no services we have ever stayed at. It was immaculately clean, on the water, and there is a hug dam within sight. There is water throughout the campground , stone picnic tables and really nice fire rings all for $15 a night. Crazy!! We loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone passing through the area, but I will warn you the drive to get to it is a little steep and curvy. There is water in the campground in a few places, and the only major drawback is no dump. They really should put one in. I don’t know what the noise is like when the dam is running, but since I like waterfall noise I think that would have been a plus for me.

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