One the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again. Well sorta', our time in Salem was hectic with 34 days dealing with the coach repairs and service. It didn't feel like we had enough time to see everybody.
While in Coburg, an hour south of Salem, we had to be out of the coach every morning at 7:30 then fill time until 3:30 when it was returned to our space in the parking lot. After 25 days there we then had 4 more days at Freightliner north of Salem, we had to be there by 7 in the morning (30 minute drive) same drill, out all day until 4. 2 days were wasted because they couldn't get to it??????? The last day was 6 :30 to 10:30. OK Enough whining! Other than that we had a nice time in our hometown.
July 21, Off to Chewelah, Wa. for Gary's 75th birthday weekend. Stacy and Barbara hosted, thenks so much to them. I'm sure they were glad to see us leave their driveway. All four of our kids were there as well as lots of grandchildren and great grands. We got to meet our newest, Dean Martin, 13 months. What a cutie!
Friday, July 23, The three kids that don't live in Chewelah arrived an eight hour drive, it took Leah from Shelton, Wa.over 10 hours, she was stopped on Snohomish Pass for 90 minutes due to a forest fire, extreme heat,100 plus for 4 days in the NW early July dried an already drought stricken region. Fires around Chewelah made for beautiful sunsets and moon rises. Bright orange.
Saturday, July 24, Gary's big 75th, his dad and grandad both had big celebrations on their 75th so it was important to him to have one too. His party ran for 3 days, the day of his bd we had the food catered from a barbeque company in Coeur d'alene, a 1 1/2 hour drive. Delish! Granddaughter Eleisha used the same company cater her wedding reception. The Mac and Cheese is to die for. Two of Gary's sisters and one brother made the trek from Salem and Willamina. A very special weekend, Gary got quite emotional, it meant so much to him.
Sunday, July 25, Everybody went out to spend the day at Loon Lake, the old fart and his much younger wife stayed at the coach and recuperated.
Wednesday, July 28, We left at 8 am for Missoula, 238 miles, to the Missoula KOA for one night $72., either RV parks have gone up in the two years since we traveled or Montana is very proud of their parks. Yikes!
Thursday, July 29, A short travel day for us, 107 miles to Helena for five nights, we got here early enough to do some sightseeing. Helena's elevation 4047 and population around 33,000, the smallest populated capital in lower 48. The city owes it's existence to four Georgian prospectors who were discouraged by gold mining in 1864 tumbled down a gulch, naming it "Last Chance Gulch" only to find gold where the city's main street now runs. We strolled down LCG, now a pedestrian mall with funky shops and eateries. We had dinner at Windbag's - once a thriving brothel from the mid 1950's to 1973 after a police raid closed it down. There were photos of "Big Dorothy" the madam on saloon walls including her mug shot. It seems a lot of the places we wanted to see were either under reconsruction or road construction. The Cathedral of St. Helena ha two VERY large cranes and orange fencing around it, last spring a strong wind storm damaged some roof tiles, The spires are 230 feet tall. A Victorian Gothic structure completed in 1914. We talked to the project manager from Ohio, he and his crew came out but the cranes came from Colorado, he didn't give us a dollar amount for the repairs but did say it was very expensive. We hope to see the inside before we leave. We picked up a geo cache across the street.
Friday, July 30, After a slow start, we left the camera in the coach 10 miles south, we visited the Montana capitol building. (found another cache there) The building is faced with sandstone and granite, the dome is topped by Montana copper, sitting a top is the statue they call Lady Liberty. The interior of the rotunda is beautiful with four circular paintings representing Montana's history. After lunch at the Brewhouse we visited the historic Governor's mansion, built in 1868 as a private residence, the owner hit hard times ending up selling it to the state. It was home to 9 governors 1913-1959, the Montana Historical Society now is in charge of it. The three story Queen Anne style structure has 7 fireplaces and 20 rooms, it's furnished with period furniture. After dinner the park owner came by to fix our Windows 10 update problem. Pretty ez if you know what you're doing. Cross your fingers plus it's been two year since I've published a blog, just a little rusty! A "techie" I'm NOT!
Saturday, July 31 About 20 miles north of Helena is "Gates of the Mountains" named by Meriwether Lewis as he navigated the Missouri River in 1805. The cliffs of Madison Limestone tower to the height of 1,200 feet, the river is around 1,000 feet wide through the cliffs. The boat Sacajawea tour took us 6 miles through the cliffs, home to 150 varieties of birds, wildlife, the site of the Mann Gulch Fire 1949 which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters, campsite of the Lewis party and rocks over 1 billion years old. At the end of the cliffs Kori turned the boat around to show how the "gates" closed. Optical illusion. Tip: If you
ever get to take the tour, take your binoculars--we didn't. We saw several bald eagles and one golden.
Monday, August 3, We had tickets to the 9:30 Last Chance Train Tour, not actually a train but looked like one on wheels. We toured through the Capitol grounds, the historic mansion district, where at the time more millionaires lived (per capita) in the world, Last Chance Gulch, the Historic Governor's mansion and 1800's architecture. Our engineer/tour guide Brian is a retired history teacher in the Helena school district, he gave us a interesting backstories on the stops.
Having technical difficulties (me) so will publish the text then try to post the photos. Wish me luck!
TTFN,
Gary and Pam
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