A MOOSE OUTSIDE THE WINDOW  Up early, we stepped outside our RV, walked to the lake adjacent to our campsite, sat on a bench, drank coffee, and Kay spotted a moose. Donald thought she was kidding, but we both then noticed a moose calf. We watched the mother and calf moose eat for the better part of a half hour.

SHOPPING, OUR VERSION OF BEING PREPARED  After the day from hell yesterday, we decided to do some necessary shopping and other big city stuff today. Before departing we hooked up the rechargeable lantern to the 12 volt outlet in the truck, taking care of at least one thing. We stopped in East Glacier for breakfast, then drove US Hwy 2 to Kalispel, MT, via West Glacier. We passed a Fire Camp along the way as there have been 11 forest fires in Montana this year. In Kalispel, Donald got his monthly allergy shot, being shuffled from the ER to an Urgent Clinic, to a regular clinic. All told, it only took about an hour. Kay got the oil changed, had the truck washed, called Dad, and took prescriptions to Wal-Mart for filling. We went to Costco for gasoline, day packs, PJs for Kay, and cashews, then to Wal-Mart for the rest of our shopping which included an ice chest, a NEW BATTERY, propane cylinders, some groceries, and a sandwich from McDonalds.

ONE OF OUR BEST DRIVES EVER  On our return, we drove through Apgar and Lake McDonald, and then drove the Going to the Sun Highway.  It was unnerving, but Kay was such a great sport. In many places there was hardly any room for oncoming cars to pass, no guard rails, and what seemed like an infinite drop if the tire wavered just a wee bit. This was far more tenuous than the drive from the east side to Logan Pass.

LOGAN PASS  While at Logan Pass, we saw several big horn sheep, but could not stop to photograph them because of traffic. We parked, and hiked a mountain side trail to get a better look, and were lucky enough to see two mountain goats and two kids. We were close enough to touch them.

HE BLEW A FUSE  We survived the rest of the drive, and made it back to the RV, where we tried connecting the new battery. Unfortunately, we got our wires crossed, both figuratively and literally, blowing two fuses (Donald’s fuse was not one of them). Then, we discovered that the wire did not fit on the post, so we improvised and used one of the jumper cable clamps to hold the connection against the post; just like back in the hills of Arkansas! Aha, everything worked again. We both took showers, ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and went to bed early.

JUST A RELAXING, DO NOTHING DAY  We are still in Buffalo, WY, where we spent the day resting and getting ready to move north. Dick and Carolyn invited us to a picnic in the Big Horns, but we decided to spend the day quietly. We are both finally starting to realize what real retirement is like. Life is pretty simple right now in our little cocoon of the world. We get up when we feel like it (with dark shades in the bedroom we tend to sleep later), have a little breakfast, read, walk, clean-up, eat a little lunch, maybe take a nap, read some more or maybe tie some flies, listen to music, have supper, relax, visit with other RVers, compare notes/travels, and then go to bed when we feel like it. We’ve discovered that it takes us about 5 minutes to clean the RV in a joint effort. We have really enjoyed the dry weather–no humidity–and the gentle breezes. Temperatures in the 80’s are really great under those conditions and then it drops to temps in the 50s/60s at night.

NEWS FROM HOME  Oh, yes, we got word that Kay’s daughter, Karyn, got engaged this past week to John Matthew Adams. They are planning a June wedding on the beach in the Bahamas in 2008. Also, Kaden Higgins, our grandson is starting his first day of middle school tomorrow in Benton, AR. Boy, time really is flying by.