Fort Whoop Up

Fort Benton RV Park

Site #? - $23 - p/w/s, Temp 18C

Fall on the Missouri River at Ft Benton

We set up camp and did a walking tour (with our bikes) of Fort Benton. It was interesting to see all the old buildings and read about the days when it was called "Fort Whoop Up". It is not hard to imagine the gunslingers and their "ladies" hanging in the streets and over balconies here.

Another Lewis & Clarke statue at Ft Benton

We are just going as far as Havre today. (We are truly avoiding crossing the border and going home!) We hadn't planned to be home until the 15th, so not not wanting to rush it. The change of plans to go to Yellowstone really threw a wrench in!

There is no internet at this campground, but some nearby neighbor has unsecured wireless. We will be leaving shortly!

Helena, MT Brrrrr . . .

Lincoln Road Campground
Site #24 - $25, p/w/s, Internet, Temp 10C

Yay, another campground with internet. It seems to be pretty standard these days. It is nice to be able to stay in touch, but also it's helpful for checking out the campgrounds and "things to see & do"

It was -1C when we got up this a.m. and all of our windows are fogged up. No morning coffee outside today! Our little heater is getting the workout. Anyway, it is sunny and it's supposed to warm to 17C, so that is good news.

We had our little "Thanksgiving dinner" last night with ham & scalloped potatoes. We are looking forward to leftovers for a few days!

Canadian Internet news shows that the borders are very busy this weekend, so we won't cross until at least Tues. Today we are heading to Fort Benton. More forts and monuments, but we do enjoy the scenic drives and seeing the country.

weather!

And we have another change of plans. We left Billings with "splats" on the windshield.  It was 1C with a mix of rain & snow! We just couldn't get excited about Cody which was also showing rain/snow. So we are making our way home. Schucks! We will spend tonight in Great Falls (or maybe just Butte) and cross the border tomorrow. We may spend a night somewhere in AB before home. It is so tough to think about winterising and storing the 5th wheel! I always hate to admit that camping season is over! :- (

Me & Uncle George!

Well, we are all fixed up and ready to go again. The slide part arrived at noon, we hooked up to the 5th wheel and headed to the shop. Within 1/2 hr. we were back in our camp spot again. It was a bit expensive, but that's what happens when you expedite delivery! Glad it's fixed. It was all Ron & I could do to manually push the slide in & out.

This morning we headed out to Pompey's Pillar (much like the Devil's Tower that we saw earlier this week) where Wm Clark from the Lewis & Clark expedition carved his initials back in 1806. There was a small museum and I had my picture taken beside a picture of my "4th Great Grand-Uncle" George Shannon :-) who was a part of this expedition. (He was shot in the leg during an Indian attack and had to have his leg amputated.)

So the plan is to leave in the a.m. and go back to Cody, Wyoming (Buffalo Bill's stomping grounds). We'll tour there and then decide whether we will go to Yellowstone or leave it for another trip. Again, it depends on the weather.

If I don't get back online before Monday, have a great Thanksgiving everyone!! Enjoy your turkeys! We are certainly going to miss that!

Thanksgiving!! ??

We actually forgot that this is thanksgiving weekend coming up. (Until we got your email re cooking a turkey, Kari). We've been in the USA too long!! No talk of turkeys and/or long weekends here!

We THINK the truck is in good running condition now. Ron spent all morning at the brake shop. So now we just need our 5th wheel part and we will be set!! Sure hope it arrives tomorrow and Sat. we can be on the road again! to where?? not sure!

This afternoon we went on a 22 km bike ride. An awesome ride on a concrete path along the Yellowstone River. One of the nicest bicycle paths we've been on. The path ended across a field from our campground, so we road across the field and Ron proceeded to lift our bikes over the barb wire fence that surrounds the campground. We didn't want to back-track when we were "right there"! Once again the owner comes along (as we are straddling the fence) to see what's going on -- who is violating the "Private Property" signs and "climbing over the fence!!. (last night the "fire" & today the fence.) I said we are going to get kicked out of this place yet!! I'm sure the owner was saying --it's those same damn Canadians again!!!

Bill, our Illinois neighbor was over again for drinks before supper and brought more sausage. We meet so many great people on the road and exchange cards etc., but usually never hear from them again.

Well that is about it for today. We are listening to a relaxing "Kenny G" CD and we will read another chapter or two in our books. It is too cold to sit outside this evening.

A good day

Well I found the solution to a bad day -- go shopping :-)  Ron dropped me off at the mall and I took care of $100. pretty quick with all the end of season sales! Man that felt good!

Actually, it was a good day for both of us. While I was shopping, Ron was at the Dodge dealership and had the truck checked out. This diesel mechanic cleaned the battery cables and said if there is corrosion on the battery cable, it affects the torque converter which would cause the pulsating/surges we were experiencing and for $65. his cleaning seemed to have fixed the problem! So, if our luck continues with tomorrow's brake job and then the slide gears which we were told have an 80% chance of arriving on Friday, we will consider ourselves back in business and be VERY happy!!

We had an enjoyable evening with our Illinois neighbors who came for drinks before supper and shared their homemade sausage. (We had complained that you can't buy good sausage here... American's idea of sausage are just spiced wieners!) Anyway, we then shared our bbqued pork loin and they brought over more sausage and we all sat around our propane firepit for the evening. The campground owner came to check on us as he'd had complaints about an "open fire" which isn't allowed in town. When he realized it was just a propane pit, no problem, we were just fine! Of course Ron just loves it when this happens and we can "show off" our cool fire pit !!

We have nothing planned for tomorrow other than the brake job. We will go bike riding if  the weather is okay.  It is raining now and more rain for tomorrow's forecast.  We'll see, I might have to go shopping again. :-)

Poor Luck in Billings, MT!

Yellowstone River RV Park
Site #25 - p/w, Internet

Well, we are in Billings for 3 nights at least, maybe more. Our slide gears have been ordered and that's as quick as we can get them. We spent last night in the shop yard as I said. It was a little noisy and we were up by 7 a.m. with various workers all coming etc. Travis, the repairman, who is helping us has been SO accommodating and helpful. We owe him big time!

We have now moved to the city campground. It's actually quite a nice spot on the Yellowstone River, so it won't be so bad spending the time here. We can push the slide open manually. We did phone the place in Moose Jaw where we bought the 5th wheel, but they likely couldn't get the part for at least 5 days.

Ron also has an appointment for the truck tomorrow. (did I mention the brakes are bad also!!?) So he's getting a brake job and a wheel alignment. I don't know if he's going to worry about the power surges until we get home and then we'll wait around and hope the trailer part arrives Friday!

slide issues

We are starting to feel like the "travel gods" are against us this trip. Now we are having problems with the gear box on the 5th wheel slide. It was clunking and has steadily gotten much worse. We stopped at a trailer place in Gillette, WY but they were unable to help (they didn't have the parts) and he suggested our best bet was Billings, Montana. That is where we are now!

We may have to postpone Yellowstone for another trip. We could head south again as it is not that far out of the way, but the weather is probably the biggest deterrent. Someone else confirmed the snow & ice headed that way! We'll work on a new travel plan after we get to the trailer place!

If anything, we are learning to be patient and flexible!!

P.S. No luck at the trailer places. They were booked until mid Oct and don't have parts anyway. So we got a name and went to a private RV & Auto Repair shop. Great guy took the gear box apart and we have a stripped gear. Now to find a replacement. Ran around town for an hour before closing to all the gear shops.

We are spending the night in the 'field' by this guy's shop in the industrial area -- he says we'll be safe!

a side trip

That was one wicked wind and it gusted through the night. There were a lot of campers that pulled in behind us as they too were having trouble bucking the wind. We just did the 1/2 drive to the Devil's Tower rock then hung out in the 5th wheel. It is kind of interesting... See attached pics.

IAccording to an Indian legend, a bear chased 7 young girls on to a small rock. Their prayers for help were heeded and the rock carried them upward to safety. The bears claws can be seen trying to climb the "tower". The girls were ultimately transformed in to the constellation - Pleides, or the 7 sisters!

We laughed at one sign on a restaurant on the way. "For Heaven's Sake... PLEASE COME IN AND EAT and save 2 of us from starving"

ha ha....anyway. Today we are moving on.. somewhere ??

Wind Stop in Sundance, Wyoming

Mt View Campground

Site #11 - $31, p/w/s, Internet

We made it to Sundance, Wyoming and had to quit driving WIND WIND WIND. I don't think I've ever seen it so bad! It is the first time we've been forced to quit driving because of it !

We hope it lets up tomorrow. Also, we stopped at the tourist info here and looked at the forecast in Yellowstone and it's showing a 40% chance of snow everyday this week.... hmmmm .... to go or not to go...!?

Anyway, there are a couple of things we can do here. Devil's Tower National Monument is just up the road so off we go!!

Sunday / Monday

We lost use of the internet in the campground because the satellite dishes are not working. It's disappointing, but it's hard to complain when it's a free service.

We just did another scenic driving tour today through Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood City. It's kind of a cool city with brick roads and all the old store fronts. Only problem is there is pretty much no shopping in the town anymore. Every store has become a casino. So Casinos and the odd souvenir store pretty much sums up the city. Too bad, but obviously that's where they make their money now and it seemed to be busy.

I'm more than ready to move on .. We've seen enough of this area. I just wish we didn't have the truck problem to contend with. I don't look forward to sitting around in Rapid City waiting on that tomorrow!

All for now... Not sure when I'll get to send this email....
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Monday:

I never did get back on the internet at the campground! We were on the road by 9 a.m. & planned to stop in Rapid City re truck. But, we missed the turnoff (Ron "knows" how to get there! yeah right!) and we decided to keep going. The truck seemed pretty good this a.m. -- silly thing! (though always was better at highway speeds.) So we are heading towards Yellowstone.  We'll see, I believe much of the park was closing at the end of Sept, so I'm not sure what we'll end up doing.