It was a
cool night and the sun is up early but we are shaded by the very tall pines and
the 5th wheel on the level higher, next to us, which came in last
night. However, we are on another
mission today so we only stooge around just a little bit before we get on the I 90
north east towards Missoula, MT.
The drive is
beautiful, we climb through lovely tree clad hills, obviously ski country in
the winter, road signs indicating chain-up areas and gondolas climbing the peaks, even at this time
of year! The countryside is so pretty, very
green, high and vast.
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| Montana - beautiful hills |
We come across quite
a lot of road works, one time we are diverted to a separated two lane roadway and the roadworks are building a perfect three lane, reinforced concrete
road, layed by a massive machine the exact same width of the road (missed the
photo of the machine sorry, but here are photos of what it has done!)
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| Roadworks |
Following a
mile or so after is another machine which lays the narrower concrete panel
between the new highway and the centre railing.
Only in America – one truck pretty much does it all!
We climb and descend, and it’s all winding, hilly and very scenic. We don’t see any potato fields in Idaho, maybe they just aren’t close to the interstate but the scenery morphs seamlessly into Montana – and I get the ‘welcome to’ photo into Montana – getting good at this!
The speed
limit here in MT is 80 mph (trucks are 65 mph) reassuringly, not many vehicles
are doing the allowed speed limit because we always see motorists, including 18
wheeler trucks meandering across the road, their lanes and ours! Can be pretty scary!
We have
googled a couple of places where we might get the hydraulic hose fixed so we
pull off the road at a Casino/Motel/RV park about 15 miles before Missoula and
make some phone calls. Interestingly we
have passed three Casinos, but they are not the glitz and glamour high rises you
see in other States, more like little country motels with some Pokies housed in
an out-building. Anyway, where we pull
off serves our purpose, we park in the shade and call, then subsequently drive, to
KLS Hydraulics in Missoula and Steve fixes our problem and gets us back on the
road within 30 minutes for the moderate cost of $79.56. Happy campers again!
Here is another
huge RV Sales yard, photo doesn’t do it justice, it is literally acres of RVs
for sale. Who buys them all, and where
do the old ones go? This is just one
example in one State….
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| A small part of an RV sales yard in MT |
We have crossed
a time zone getting into MT and have therefore lost an hour in between times,
so now it’s getting towards 4.30 pm and time to find a place for the night. We choose a State Park – Beavertail Hill State
Park and Camp Ground in which we claim MT state resident status (our check - sorry cheque, book is printed with our Montana address – proof of ID, however I
was a bit slow as we could have got the plus +62 senior 50% discount too!) Need
to practice this Montana living a bit more.
Although the
camp is less than a mile from the Interstate and the railway line we have a
very peaceful night.
We need one of those machines in NZ. Kim - can you bring one back with you?
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