TIME FLIES, WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN  Today is Donald’s 58th birthday. It was just another day with no celebration, etc. Unfortunately, Donald’s family did not celebrate birthdays much when he was growing up, and it’s something he really missed.

GETTING CLOSER TO HOME  We drove US Hwy 212 south from Garryowen, MT, to Spearfish, SD, and it is an awesome road, one of our favorites. It’s just a two-lane road thru much of the last part of MT, a small corner of WY, and then into SD. We saw lots of antelope and the beautiful Black Hills country. It was a very beautiful drive, quiet and peaceful with very small towns–mostly Native American–as we were on reservation land or close to it much of the way. We then picked up I-90 and drove to Murdo, SD, then to Valentine, NE. We made a conscious decision to stay on two-lane roads, avoiding the semis, etc. We’re pretty tired tonight as we crossed the time zone between Mountain Time and Central Time. The campground in Valentine was a Good Sam Club recommended park, and it, too, was nice. It rained all night, and cooled down as well. Kay has decided that traveling pulling a travel trailer with a total length of about 51 feet is not as ‘carefree’ as traveling via car. Stopping for anything has to be more thoughtful and precise.

HEADING SOUTH  We headed south for home today, hitching up fairly early. The drive out was much better than the drive in. We had no wind, and drove all the way to Garryowen, MT, site of the Battle of Little Bighorn. We stayed in a Good Sam Club recommended park, washed clothes, showered, and charged batteries. It was a nice camp ground.

WE CAN’T TOP YESTERDAY  We stayed in the RV today, getting ready to depart for home tomorrow, on Sunday, doing other odd chores, and reading. We did see a mountain goat on the mountain overlooking our camp site. We drove to East Glacier and filled the truck with gas. We also attended a great interpretive program consisting of a ranger dressed as a mountain man, telling Indian stories and explaining how Two Medicine got its name. He mentioned the great Creator and the spiritual context of Two Medicine. It was very entertaining.

RED ROCK FALLS We trekked to Many Glacier and hiked to Red Rock Falls. It did not start out as a great hike, but we did see several other hikers on the trail. However, on the return hike, we saw 8 mountain goats perched precariously along a ledge on the almost vertical face of the mountain.

FINALLY, GRIZZLY BEARS AND BLACK BEARS  When we returned to trailhead near the parking lot of the Swift Current Motor Inn, we saw a grizzly bear in the mountains behind the motel. On our way out, just before the turn in (Swift Current side) we saw a black bear sow and two cubs on the mountain, then in the Many Glacier Hotel upper parking lot, we saw another black bear sow and one cub, then exiting the turn into Many Glacier Hotel, we saw still another black bear sow and two cubs.  All the black bears were colored differently, and a couple of the sows resembled the color you might expect of grizzly bears.

LOTS OF ANIMALS  Upon our return to the campsite, we saw a big horn sheep on the mountain, then a mountain goat. What started out as a day of pansy hiking turned into an eventful wildlife watching day.

WE WILL BE BACK   We had stroganoff hamburger helper and salad for dinner. At bedtime, Kay said she was a little homesick, so we made a joint decision to head home on August 26. It had been great dry camping at Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park these past 6 days and 5 nights; we will return, God willing. We have used our Little Buddy Heater to warm our RV in the early mornings and sometimes in the late evenings. It really cools down at night–low 40’s/30’s–even though it might reach the 60’s in the daytime.

LIFE IS GOOD  One of Kay’s favorite evenings was when we sat in our swivel rocker chairs at our large picture window and watched the sunset and the encroaching darkness and talked into the evening. The silence was so peaceful and we also saw animals at dusk a lot. It was such a neat way to unwind from the day. Getting closer to nature is definitely a means of getting closer to our ‘natural selves’ and our ‘spirit self’. We were blessed by this experience and we plan to return here again one day. God is indeed strong medicine in this area of the world.

A HIKER’S BREAKFAST  Today was a hiking day. We fixed a big skillet breakfast of potatoes with onions and peppers, ham, and eggs. We sautéed enough of the onions, peppers, and ham to go into a pot of potato soup Kay was making. While dry camping, or boondocking, we try to cook a lot of food at once so as to minimize dish washing.

HIDDEN FALLS AND TWIN FALLS  After dish washing, we did a short hike to Hidden Falls.

Returning back to Two Medicine, we purchased boat tickets to the opposite end of Two Medicine Lake for the trailhead. Catching the 1 p.m. boat, we hiked to Upper Two Medicine Lake and to Twin Falls, and caught the 5 p.m. boat back. Photos do not do this place justice. It began raining about an hour before the boat arrived, and rained off and on all evening. Fortunately, Kay had made the huge pot of soup, so she re-heated it, and we enjoyed a nice hearty meal.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK BOUND  Today, we headed for Glacier National Park, in the northwest corner of MT, only about three hours from Great Falls. The wind was even worse than yesterday, with gusts up to 35 mph, and for the most part, directly against us. Our gas mileage was pretty bad, averaging about 8 mpg.

I KNEW WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED!  We had intended to come into Two Medicine Campground from the south, but our communications got mis-translated. Consequently, we came in from the north on MT Highway 49. It was narrow, had numerous switchbacks, and was BAD to the bone. Donald drove ever so slowly, hardly more than 20 mph. After climbing for several thousand feet, we then began descending. Using 2nd gear, we finally made it to the bottom. (The next day we saw the sign that limited total length of vehicle to 21 feet!) We finally made it to the Two Medicine Campground, found a pull through spot, and set up. It was overcast, windy, and somewhat cool, with a few sprinkles of rain now and again.

IT’S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL  Too tired to hike, we drove to East Glacier, then to the St. Mary Visitor Center, then on to Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun highway, and it was awesome. Kay was a good sport, as she detests heights and narrow roads. It was 48 degrees at Logan Pass.

LEARNING TO BOONDOCK, THE HARD WAY  After returning to the RV, we noticed that every time the toilet flushed via the water pump, the gas detector would go off. Donald finally checked the battery and it was almost dead. We ended up using the light Ron gave us, but its battery ran down as well. We had just enough 12 volt power to run the water pump for toilet use. I checked the battery and discovered that one of the wing nuts had worked loose, so the battery had lost its charge. Oh well, it was just another learning lesson. We did discover that the Little Buddy heater worked GREAT, and kept the trailer toasty warm without using too much bottle propane. Tomorrow will be a better day.

HEAD ‘EM UP, MOVE ‘EM OUT  We hitched up and moved north today to Great Falls, MT, via Billings. The wind was awful, with broadside and quartering broadside winds of 20 to 25 mph, and gusts up to 30 mph. We traveled a two-lane road from Billings to Great Falls, and it was a nice respite from the interstate. We arrived at Dicks RV Park and Campground in Great Falls about 4:30 p.m., and, for the most part, had the smallest rig in the park. Because we were leaving immediately in the morning, we did not unhook. There were a large number of 5th wheel trailers, and a lot of folks from Alberta, Canada. The park was pretty nice, but not quite up to Deer Park standards; however, we would stay there again.

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.

ONE CAN WORK IN AN RV  Today’s goal was for Donald to conclude, for the time being, his consulting work based on what little information he had; consequently, he worked all day and at least got basics and a pretty decent skeletal report finished. Kay headed into town for the museum and some shopping as the Donald is not pleasant to be around when working. At the end of the day, the rough draft report was emailed to the folks in Atlanta, with us to await further word. We’re finally ready to move on to MT.