Tag Archives: Retirement

2 Nights, 2 Countries

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We have a long haul ahead of us on this day, and it all happens within Montana!  We had to make a stop for supplies in Missoula which took a bit of time.  I also had to get some forms printed out for our second day.  We drove through some very beautiful country and a lot of heavy rain!  We drove around Flathead Lake and ended up going through Columbia Falls to our next campsite.

The road to the next campsite was very picturesque, very woodsy and very remote.  When we were within 7 miles the road turned to gravel.  Ugh, with washboarding!  There was no easy way of knowing that this was coming but we had reservations so we kept moving, slowly.  It took about 45 minutes to travel that distance and we arrived at the remotest campsite we had ever stayed.  There were vehement signs warning us to the bear influence in the area and it sure seemed like a bear area!  It was very quiet though.

The Chen’s blocking the road!

Our spot in the forest

 

The view of the river from the Chen’s spot

If you want remote, come here!

The next day was more driving north.  We took a different route from the remote campground that only had about 3 miles of gravel but it wreaked havoc on the inside of the trailer.  As we drove around this loop we found this:

We were going through Glacier National Park!  I didn’t realize we were that close but we didn’t have time to drive it and the Road to the Sun road was not open yet.  We headed off to our next reservation.

The significant part of today was crossing over into Canada.  We were not carrying a handgun because I know of the regulations and general disdain for handguns in Canada but we did have our shotgun that we were taking.  This required one form for the US (to declare that I am taking it across the border and I own it so I can bring it back to the US) and a form for Canada.

We pulled over on the US side and went to the CBP.  We showed the form to the agent and he went to the trailer and looked at the gun.  Easy but it took some time.  We pulled through the line on the Canadian side and George had already told the agent about my shotgun so they had us pull over.  I went inside with my form, paid the fee and we were on our way.  Pretty easy, but without preparation, it would have been much worse.

We were now in Canada so we had to start looking at things in a metric way and what the monetary conversion is.  I am glad I like math!

Our next stop was Dry Gulch Provincial Park near the town of Radium Hot Springs.  We had spots together this time but they were pretty steep.

I remember coming to Radium when I was much younger with my parents.  Radium’s big draw is the hot springs.  We had to go there and we did.  It was so relaxing and the setting was beautiful.

George trying out his camera underwater

Just west of the hot springs is a canyon that is the way in and out of the area.  It was this way during horse and wagon days.  Here are a few views of it:

The first two days were 540 miles in total but we made it to Canada.

 

Two more stops

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Due to campground scheduling, we headed south from the West Yellowstone area to end up by Lower Mesa Falls in Idaho.  We are due to be there 3 nights and the campground is right by the lower falls but about 1000′ above them.  There was no cell service but MANY mosquitos!  The campground had electric but no sewer or dump.  It was very cool and wet with rain on and off.  Perfect weather for those pesky ones!

We took a drive to the upper falls (1 mile) to see them and hike to the lower falls (more than 1 mile):

Upper Mesa Falls

Lower Mesa Falls

Part way through our stay at the falls we had to move campsites as Marcia couldn’t get sites for consecutive days.  One of the sites she got was a double spot so we stayed together in that one:

We enjoyed the time in the area, we even went down to the local town (Ashton ID) for eating and supplies.  We also found a spot near a river where people fed the fish in the stream.  We even saw a bunch of bald eagles.  But as always it becomes time to leave.  Back north we go!

Here is shot of our trailer while our friends were following us:

Oddly enough we ended up going through Island Park ID for the third time!  Island Park boasts having the longest main street in the world!  The actual town is 34 miles long but just over 500 feet wide.  This was done during a time when liquor could only be sold in the city limits and there were lots of businesses that used that to their advantage and it appears to have not changed!

Before we got back to West Yellowstone we turned west toward our next stop.  We ended up at the Lewis and Clark Caverns Campground.  Right after we got there we were inundated with snow!  Not real snow but it looked like snow.  It was coming from the Cottonwood trees all through the campground:

There are some caverns to explore here at the park but we looked at the description of the hikes.  Strenuous, crawling, butt-scooting, etc.  Not quite what we were up to doing.  The Chen’s went on and did it and we watched their dog for them.  From their descriptions, it appeared to be a good choice not to go, but they did enjoy it!

The weather was really nice there!