Wednesday, Sept. 10th

Wow! We're on the road again and heading west! It sure feels good to be able to see the country and enjoy the scenery of this amazing part of the U.S. We're taking in every little bit of the trip that we possibly can. The summer ended all too soon. We had some wonderful times in the last two weeks of our Hart Ranch stay. We shared some memorable moments with the friends that we've made and it was a sad departure knowing that it would be almost 7 months before we'd be back. I completed several of the projects around the grounds, including planting over 20 small Colorado spruce trees and clearing the land for the additional storage sites that will be completed this winter. We had several dinners with Bill & Sandy Crawford, Gary & Nancy Gibbs, Bill & Fran Rayner, and Jim & Danette Bohn (she's the Reservations Supervisor at Hart Ranch and they live there all year in their 5th-wheel trailer). We hit the Elks Lodge for their Sunday brunch and their Thursday night chicken dinner. I worked Labor Day and took the next three days off to get the coach ready for the trip. One of our additions to the motor home is a computer desk that has a hanging file drawer, a drawer for the computer printer, and a hiding place to store a few 6-packs of my special brew collection. I got the coach washed and waxed and Dottie did some cleaning chores on the inside.

Friday morning we left Hart Ranch and headed west on I-90. We drove as far as Sheridan, WY and spent the night at the Super Wal-Mart. Our weather was spitting down rain from localized clouds - just enough to get the coach dirty with road grime. When we arrived in Sheridan, there was only one other RV in the parking lot. I checked with the Asst Mgr. to get permission to spend the night and was welcomed by him. By bedtime there were over 12 RVs in the parking lot and two semi trucks. It rained that night and cooled down a lot.

Saturday morning we left Sheridan and drove north to Billings where we topped off the tank at the Flying J truck stop. We continued on to Harlowton and the Chief Joseph City Park. We found a site, checked the electricity, and plugged in. We were in the coach watching TV when everything went off. The electrical monitoring system started going nuts and giving us some erratic readings. I went outside and unplugged. Dottie had a chicken cooking in the electric rotisserie, so I started the generator and let it continue cooking for the next two hours. When the park caretaker came around to collect, I mentioned the power and showed him one of the boxes with reversed polarity. He wasn't aware of the problem, but said he'd try to get somebody out. I didn't have much faith that we'd see anybody and was very surprised to see an electric service truck arrive within the hour. A neutral wire had broken and he had it repaired in a few minutes. We were back in business with good electricity! It also rained that night so I tried to do a quick wash job on the coach the next morning before leaving.

On Sunday we pulled out with overcast skies and drove west toward White Sulphur Springs, Helena, and Missoula. Skies cleared the farther west we traveled and we arrived in Missoula by early afternoon. Our first stop was Bretz RV & Marine to dump the holding tanks and check on propane. They were closed but their dump station was open. We drove down the street to the Super Wal-Mart and parked on the outer perimeter for the evening. I tried to wash off the road grime before we looked for a dinner spot. We found a microbrewery listed on the internet, the Iron Horse Brewing Co. in downtown Missoula. It was a small brewpub that served a delicious burger and some tasty beers. It will be a "must stop" the next time we come through here.

The next morning we readied the coach for travel and drove back the Bretz to top off our propane tank - at .99/gallon!We drove on to Coeur d'Alene and the Elks Lodge. It's a small Lodge on the north end of town with 12 W/E sites. We again looked for a local microbrewery and found the Coeur d'Alene Brewing Co. We drove downtown to check it out and sample some of their brews. They had a vanilla bourbon stout that was wonderfully delicious. I bought a 6-pack of their huckleberry wheat beer and tried their strawberry wheat ale. It was an enjoyable visit, but we returned to the coach for supper. After eating we joined another couple from San Diego for some wine and conversation before it got too dark and cool.

Tuesday morning we left Coeur d'Alene and drove over to Moses Lake, WA and the Pier 4-Sunrise Resort. We arrived and were assigned to a site that looks like a gravel overflow site. We have water and 30-amp electric in a site not really designed for long rigs. However, we're right on the lake and have a magnificent view to the east. It'll be sufficient for our three-day stay and might even be nicer than the close sites on the grass. We hope to be able to see cousin Rachel & Tim Mecham who live here. I am going to go to the Wednesday Moses Lake Rotary meeting and see if the legendary Monte Holmes is still alive. Our next stop is a small park in Wishram, WA right on the Columbia River, followed by two nights at the Milwaukie, OR Elks Lodge. From there we go to Keizer, OR Elks Lodge for two nights and into the Monaco Rally at the Oregon State Fairgrounds.

Here is our travel schedule:

Sept. 9-11 Pier 4-Sunrise Resorts, Moses Lake, WA
12 Wishram, WA City Park
13-14 Milwaukie, OR Elks Lodge (see Don & Bobbie Presten)
15-16 Keiser, OR Elks Lodge
17-25 Monaco Factory Rally, Salem, OR
26-Oct. 1 Monaco Peoria Rd. Service Center
Oct. 2-3 Springfield, OR Elks Lodge
4-5 Timber Valley SKP Coop, Sutherlin, OR (see Gary & Shirley Smoot)
6 Williams, OR (see Bob & Sally Nason)
7-8 Eureka, CA Elks Lodge
9-11 Russian River Thousand Trails (see sister Peg)
12-13 Walnut Creek, CA (see sister Harriet & Skip)1
4-16 Morgan Hill Thousand Trails (see cousin Kate & Keith Nelson)
17-19 Rancho Oso Thousand Trails
20 Palmdale, CA Elks Lodge
21 Palisades Presbyterian Church

All this could change as our schedule is designed for flexibility. We're creating some wonderful memories on this trip and look forward to getting to San Diego.