Traveler's Rest

King pin

Traveler's Rest is the name of the last camp Lewis and Clark made before crossing the Bitterroots from east to west searching for the Pacific Ocean. Traveler's rest is what we took for two days after crossing the Bitterroots to head back east. We are at the Big Timber KOA, having run the gauntlet and being ready to shift gears into vacation mode. 

The KOA is about 10 miles out of the actual town of Big Timber. They both lie in a rolling plain full of horse farms with rugged mountains on each horizon. The KOA is about 6 miles from the I-90 exit but the campground is still right on the highway. Just across the highway is a very active rail line. It's been really fun hearing the trains day and night. I've seen trains as long as 135 cars requiring 4 big diesel engines. We are either increasingly deaf or crazy tired (or both) because the noise has actually been more pleasure than problem and we've

Big Timber Grand Hotel

had no trouble sleeping.

What we did have trouble with was unhooking the trailer. Day one here has been a day of rest and learning the equipment. We've sorted all the accouterments we brought from the Scamp and all those left by the previous Escape owners. We've tried to optimize which to use and how to pack. We've watched videos and re-read the owner's manual. But the big job was mastering the 5th wheel hitch. We watched the videos, consulted the checklists and could not get the latch to open enough to release the kingpin. Kudos again to our friends at Americamp, we sent them a picture and they coached us over the phone until the latch opened and we were free.

McLeod Street, Big Timber

To celebrate, Ruthie treated me to 

carry out from the Big Timber Grand Hotel. I had a handsome Montana steak on top of a garden salad, made even better by the day's accomplishments. A restful end to our day of rest. 

Day two has been spent at Yellowstone National Park. When I was about 8, my grandfather drove my sister and I from Indiana to the Seattle World's Fair via Yellowstone and home through the Canadian Rockies. We won't mention how long ago that was but there was a mixture of the familiar and the totally new as we drove through the park today. Yellowstone is the first of the American national parks, established in 1872, and some claim the first national park in the world. It is home to some amazing geothermal features and remarkable contrasts--among them, cool mountain rivers and boiling springs. The park is huge and we only had time to visit a few places. Rather than attempt to describe them, I'll leave you with some pictures below. Remember, they can be enlarged by clicking on them. Tomorrow we head to Billings for an oil change and will plan our final leg home tomorrow night from Rapid City, SD.

Odie providing commentary

Roosevelt Arch, North Entrance

Engineer's offices, employee's village

Village elk, employee's village

River bottom to mountain top

Mammoth Springs

Mammoth Springs

Where Daddy B bought gas

Boiling springs

Gibbons River

Waiting for Old Faithful (we didn't...)

Rainbow blessing

Road test

Bitterroots

Today was the road test for the truck and camper. Our goal was to get back across the Bitterroot Mountains, across the Continental Divide at a little better than a mile high, and find a good place to take a rest. Between the stress of hard traveling (oh, and did I mention traveling during a pandemic?), the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the import process, getting the brake controller serviced and learning to manage the new rig, I'm tired. Mentally and physically. The last hurdle, which we undertook today, was to be certain I had enough truck to pull the trailer safely. Having gotten through all that, we decided to book three nights in the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park. The plan is to take a day completely off the road and just mess with all the bells and whistles on the trailer, review the manual, and rest. Friday we hope to visit the National Park. Saturday we have a mid-day appointment in Billings for an oil change and a relatively short hitch to South Dakota and we'll plan the next leg from there.

So today was the road test across the Bitterroot Mountains. The truck is a mid-sized V6 with an extended wheel base. I'm rated to carry 1391# and tow 6300# just somewhat over the minimum requirements to tow the trailer set by the manufacturer. I took a deep breath, took my time, and we made the trip in good form. Ruthie took her first turn at the wheel today and all went very well. We don't climb tall mountains very fast, but we climbed them without straining the engine. I don't tow over 60 miles an hour anyway, and it felt almost effortless on the flat. The truck has a transmission cooler and we used the transmission coming down the steep grades as to not overuse the brakes and never felt out of control. With the Rocky Mountains behind us, the rest of the trip should be a breeze. Kudos to the engineers at Nissan trucks!

Beyond the road test, the day has been a geography lesson. Montana is an ever-changing landscape. The Interstate follows river valleys between mountains that open in to broad plains of irrigated fields or wide expanses of buttes and folded hills covered in sagebrush, native grasses and fir trees. We crossed through July 4th Pass again today (Ruthie took a picture to prove I'm not prevaricating) and frequently across the Clark Fork River. We are staying these three nights at Big Timber. 

The trip today has been gorgeous at every turn. There really is no way to photograph all we saw, so I include only a few samples. Our only disappointment was not getting back to Wheat Montana before they closed...

Purpled mountains majesty

Clark Fork

Did I say "whupped"? But not whipped!

Canadian Border crossing, Sumas, WA

We are safely back near Spokane again. It's been a tiring two days, although happily victorious. Monday morning dragged, waiting for the time to pack up and leave for the Canadian Border. The broker said all the paperwork was in order and had been sent to the trucker. The trucker assured me they had all they needed. We took off for the US Customs office in Sumas, WA intending to arrive and meet the truck at 11:30am and be on our way. Just as soon as we hit the road and I could not easily answer phone calls and texts, my phone exploded with them. Stuff from work, paperwork needed by the seller to give the truck driver, word that the truck driver

US Customs, Sumas, WA

did NOT have the papers that HAD to be stamped at the border and I'd have to find a place to have them printed off my phone, the broker with instructions, the trucker with questions...oh, and the guy who bought my old house wanting to know where the septic tank was. I must have pulled off the road a dozen times to answer and respond. Suffice it to say, I was a noodle when I arrived.

The broker had said that the Customs agents would be tough to deal with and would not help me, especially with the papers I needed to get printed

Love at first sight

out and stamped. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I walked in, explained my problem and they were great. It was clear everything would have to be done correctly, but they also made it clear they would do whatever they could to help. It took at least two hours, made longer by a typo in the VIN number supplied by the broker. But they got it fixed and about 2:30pm, LibraryAnn II rolled across the border and into sight. 

The trucker graciously stayed to help us hook up the new fifth wheel hitch and we were on our own. We had a reservation about an hour away at the KOA near

Getting acquainted

Burlington, WA. There is a brake controller in my truck that coordinates braking between truck and trailer. It was not properly adjusted for this new trailer so we had an appointment the next day near Burlington to get that fixed. Driving her was a little dicey as she is about 1000# heavier, slightly wider and two feet longer than her predecessor and with brakes that worked but not optimally. I crept. But Washingtonians are as courteous as their Canadian neighbors and we safely arrived. It took watching a couple of videos on YouTube to get the hot

Burlington KOA

water heater working and the set-up complete. We ordered dinner via GrubHub and groceries via Instacart. Then we unpacked and stowed everything we brought to camp with her coming home and  then Hit. The. Hay. But before we did, we took Odie on one last walk. We'd been so focused on the problems at hand, we'd missed the natural beauty that surrounded us. This lovely mountain view brought us back.

I have to say, this camper is elegant. I've told Ruthie we will have to say that we are "rv-ing" as it is hardly camping. Temps dropped into the 50s last night and I woke cold and with a very

Stuart Mountains (and LibraryAnn II)

upset stomach from dinner. I set the digital thermostat to 68, used one of the many overhead lights to find some Rolaids in a cupboard and crawled back into a comfy bed. In the morning  I got a hot shower. My initial purpose was to find a trailer with a bigger dinette and better bathroom, but this feels like a mobile hotel room. 

After breakfast, we headed to Mt Vernon, WA to Poulsbo RV to have the brake controller adjusted. A friendly young women from Tennessee saw to our repairs and had us on the road in an hour. They did an

Wind on the plains

excellent job on the brakes--stopping is seamless between the two vehicles. We headed via Interstate back to Spokane. I did all the driving, working on getting a feel for things like cornering and braking distance. There is a learning curve and I will keep my speed down as this trailer approaches the limits of my truck. But we've had another safe day and took some time to enjoy the beauty around us.

Burlington was in the Cascade Mountains. The mountains disappear into the distance to be replaced with buttes and plains. For a while, there are enormous farms, thanks to river water for irrigation. But where the irrigation ends, the land is arid and sparse. We drove through one stretch of road experiencing enormous crosswinds. The trailer handled well but you can see from the picture of the trees in the rest stop just how strong the winds were and how barren the landscape behind them.

So we are safely in Spokane Valley at their KOA deciding on our next leg. Enjoy some fun pictures and I'll be in touch as the trip home develops.

We know now where he hides

Odie in the pokey

Art appreciation

Settled in

Evening blessing

The North Cascades

After posting last night, Ruthie and I took Odie out for one last walk. We discovered that our hotel backed up to a lovely riverside park and greenway with paths on both sides of the Spokane River. We saw skateboards, motorized scooters, bikes and pedestrians enjoying the mild evening and beautiful views. Part of the greenway included an exhibit of bronze sculptures recounting the people who built Spokane including this coal miner and a statue of one of the nuns who literally helped build

the first hospital. 

In a post from last year's trip to Canada, there is a picture of a statue in Rockwood Park, in St John, NB, to the industrial workers who were killed "building the nation". As someone who lost her husband to a workplace accident in a state that didn't seem to care, I found that statue deeply moving. I found it heartening here to see workers recognized for their role in creating Spokane and a rich addition to this already wonderful space. The lovely park and the cool evening air were a pleasant transition from the stress of the parking garage incident, which, by the way, ended well this morning. With Ruthie's guidance, I cleared the last three pipes--by barely an inch--but we did it and without having to let air out of the tires or remove the overpacked roof rack. Whew.

After four days of hard driving on the Interstate, we spent today driving two lane

back roads, including several scenic highways, across northern Washington State to Bellingham, about 30 minutes from where I am to pick up the trailer mid-day tomorrow.

We left Spokane on US 2. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was not the incredible rolling farmland west of the city. And, while I did expect some wilderness, I was startled at how sparsely populated the countryside became just outside the city and everywhere else we were today. The farms were huge. We saw very few farm houses. We saw endless fields of grain and equally large areas tilled but not planted. We passed through areas where the fields were interrupted by lava flows and where farmers simply plowed around outcroppings of volcanic rock. But where we did see residences, the farms and farm buildings were well maintained and neatly kept.

Grand Coolee

The further west we got, the more arid the land became. Ruthie took this picture trying to capture all the textures of the land around us. We passed Grand Coolee Dam and later, Chief Joseph Dam which was surrounded by miles of fruit orchards made possible by even more miles of irrigation line. To conserve space and water, the trees were planted extremely close together and many were simply grafts supported by rows of fence wire like you might use to support beans here.  But the trees were incredibly prolific and we passed industrial scale packing houses up and down the road.

Irrigated patches of orchard 

The road followed the Columbia river for quite a while. The river itself was clear and clean. Power lines left both dams and traveled to the horizon. The town across the river from Coolee Dam is named Electric City. Orchards and dam maintenance appeared to be the only viable employment although we did see rafters on the river at one point.

Chief Joseph Dam

The further west and away from the river we traveled, the more arid the land became until it was nothing but sage brush--until we approached the steep, fir covered slopes of the North Cascade Mountains. 

We took the North Cascades Scenic Highway to and through the North Cascades National Park. It is impossible to capture the grandeur of these rugged mountains topped with glaciers. We had fun trying, but you just need to make this drive and see 

them for yourself.

Today was the first time we encountered any holiday traffic this trip. The drive through the park was spectacular and the traffic appeared light, but once through the park, apparently we got caught up in the stream of folks heading home after the holiday. That said, we are safe in Bellingham, waiting on instructions for picking up the trailer tomorrow. The trip home will be an amble. We are ready for a break.

Life being about the unexpected...

About two and a half hours west of Billings and just west of Bozeman, at the town of Three Forks, is what seems to be Ruthie's favorite place on the planet. We've been to Montana twice and have been to Wheat Montana three times now. If she can figure out how to get us by on the way home, it will be four. And I don't blame her. It's a pretty special place. It is a grain elevator, flour mill and bakery. It's the bakery part that brings us back. Cinnamon buns the size of pie plates and delicious. Ruthie got into hers in the car then worried if she put her mask on, it would stick.

I got a BLT on a flaky croissant that melted in my mouth, followed by an equally light and flaky cherry turnover. So the day started really well....THAT we expected.

A bit later, when I got sleepy driving (that, too, was expected), I pulled off at the next exit to trade drivers. There wasn't an immediate on-ramp so we had to drive through the little town of Deer Lodge. What we didn't expect was a wonderful lesson in history. The kids and their dad, and now I by association, are big railfans. Much is made of the completion of the first

transcontinental railroad with the golden spike driven in at Promontory Summit, Utah. Apparently, the last transcontinental railroad was completed in 1909 and the last spike driven in Deer Lodge, a mile and a half east of the golden spike. It was fun finding an article about it online and sending it to Ben.

In addition, Deer Lodge is home to the Montana state prison. An older version of the prison has been turned into a museum. We didn't stop to go

inside, but it looked intriguing. The town was also full of charming old buildings and nice shops. Very worth a stop in a time after pandemic.

The rest of the trip was almost uneventful. Western Montana and Idaho are full of mountain ranges and lovely scenery. We drove through Lolo National Forest just north of where Lewis and Clark (and last year, we) crossed the treacherous Bitterroot Mountains at Lolo Pass. And the Interstate followed the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the interior of the northwest. The Mullan Road was built by US Army troups under the command of Lt. John Mullan. On July 4th in 1861, Mullan and his troups celebrated the nation's birthday on a mountain they named July 4th Summit. I-90 now passes through July 4th Pass, and today, so did we.

We made it to our goal for today--the Doubletree Hotel in Spokane. We're staying at Hilton properties because of their sanitation practices and this was the only one in the area that took pets. It's at a huge convention center and parking is in a garage beneath the complex. We managed to get well into the parking garage before

realizing that the thudding we heard was our rooftop carrier striking the pipes (fortunately flexible, as is the carrier) for the fire system. THAT was totally unexpected. Ruthie flagged down the security guard who helped us navigate to a spot near the exit with no damage to pipes or truck, but we have three left to pass under to get out in the morning. Fingers crossed.

The idea of purchasing this trailer seemed so simple at first. The Escape folks helped me find exactly what I was looking for and at a very fair price. The owners of the trailer are lovely folks who have been very helpful. But this whole process has been fraught with the most ridiculous complications and frustrations. When I got the news that the paperwork was complete, I foolishly presumed we were home free. It appears that the Universe is funning with me still. I will pause, choose to grin, and proceed. We have been blessed to get safely this far and all other obstacles have eventually been resolved. As a friend's bumper sticker reads, "Oh s___, another learning experience"...Stay tuned.

North by Northwest

Virginia road sign

It's July 3 and I'm writing this from Billings, MT. We left out July 1 and have had 3 long, hard days on the road. The Virginia DOT enjoined travelers to behave this holiday weekend with this humorous sign and we have enjoyed other, similar admonitions from other states.

On I29 through Iowa, we found ourselves on the Lewis & Clark trail again, following the Missouri River. When we got to Chamberlain, SD, we stopped at a rest stop and were met with this magnificent statue honoring Native American culture and particularly their women. The statue, named Dignity, stands 50 feet tall. The diamonds in her star quilt are hinged to allow air through. She is smiling and strong as

Dignity

she overlooks the Missouri River. 

Ruthie and I have been discussing our Lewis and Clark trip of last summer. We stopped following the L&C trail at Lolo Pass in Idaho and then headed south before turning home. This time, while not specifically following Lewis and Clark, we will be heading on to the Pacific Coast as they did and not far from where they ended up. We will make the trip west in 5 days and maybe take a couple of weeks to amble back home. Meriweather Lewis was from Virginia. He and Clark took over a year and a half to make their round trip. They faced all kinds of weather, unfriendly natives, swarms of insects, waterfalls, supply shortages and all manner of challenges. I'm doing my best not to fuss about excessive fanny fatigue and dry skin from hand sanitizer. It's an amazing country and I'm grateful to have the chance to see it like this, but I'm feeling my age and not regretting a bit wanting to buy a more comfortable camper and choosing to amble once I have it.

Indiana

In addition to the endless grain fields and enormous sky, we've seen some fun things on the road. As folks moved west, Quakers in particular, took their home town names with them and used them again. 

We've seen road signs for familiar towns back home and

Iowa

other eastern communities we've recognized, including Pittsboro where I used to live and Pekin where my son and future daughter-in-law now live. But the best sign we've seen was for a saloon on a back road in South Dakota advertising Cheap Drinks and Lousy Food. Since they were literally the only option for miles, the locals had little choice. At least they were honest. 

Another South Dakota road sign read, "In wine there is wisdom. In water there

Honesty as best policy in action

is bacteria. Wobbly Bobby Beer".  It left me wondering whether to worry more about drunk drivers or drinking the water. Fortunately, we appear to have been kept safe from both.

A peculiarity of Montana is the coincidence of restaurants and gambling casinos. We noted this on our visit last year. Nearly every restaurant we visited or drove by last summer had a casino in the restaurant (not the other way around). Growing up Methodist, gambling was frowned upon so I'm no expert on casinos but I have to say eating my apple pie just around the corner from the slot machines was disorienting. But nothing beat the picture Ruthie took today as we scooted towards Billings. Do not ask. I have no clue.

 

We are off early tomorrow for Spokane via Wheat Montana. I can only hope the giant cinnamon buns are as good as I remember them. Please keep us in your thoughts as we continue. The broker emailed to say all the import paperwork was in order. The last big job is picking up the trailer and navigating safely home.

Chapter II

Soon to be LibraryAnn II

So a new chapter begins. As happened to many folks, COVID put an end to our travel plans this summer. The uncertainty about how the virus is spread along with the unwillingness of some to follow public health advice left me leery of continuing to use public bath facilities at campgrounds. And lots of our Canadian reservations were cancelled because of travel restrictions. So Ruthie and I decided just to cancel everything and take a pause to reconsider how we might safely travel. 

LibraryAnn has a wet bath but I'd never tried using it as it is sooooo small and I'd only just had the hot water heater upgraded. So Ruthie and I booked a weekend at Fairy Stone in Virginia to see if we could camp without using the public bath house. We discovered a couple of things. One is that the wet bath works just fine now that I have a reliable hot water heater. The other is that our holding tanks were full after two days. Most state and federal parks do not have sewer hookups--a problem as these are the places I most enjoy meeting up with family who will also need to avoid the bath house. And as I got to thinking about it, now that my family is growing, the 4 person dinette didn't allow us to all share a table, either. As much as I've loved learning to use the old girl, it was looking like I'd outgrown her. 

I began a search for a larger ultralight molded fiberglass trailer I could still pull with my truck. I have always admired the all-season Canadian made trailers and I contacted the Escape company in British Columbia hoping to find a used one. They don't sell used trailers but they put me in touch with a customer needing to sell their 2016 fifth wheel Escape 5--just the trailer I was wanting! It has a bigger bath, bigger holding tanks, MUCH more storage and has a U shaped dinette we can all share. I cannot even attempt to describe the gauntlet I have run trying to import this trailer across a closed border. That said, Ruthie and I are on our way to Sumas, WA, hoping the import broker really has accomplished all the paperwork so that we can pick up LibraryAnn II on

July 6 and bring her to her new home. 

Oh, and did I mention I've adopted a little rescue dog? Odie travels with us, exploring the rest stops and learning hotel manners. 

My trusty Scamp is in the hands of a couple from Archdale. The husband is a retired truck mechanic who will see to it she has many good miles to come. Ruthie, Odie and I are anxiously awaiting word from the broker as we head west to meet our new friend.