Just keep going when someone has a blow-out in front of you, and you are a new driver with a 3 1/2 thousand pound trailer pushing you in the mountains … it’s more stressful for your mom (riding shotgun) than you. I missed every 12 inch piece of tire (and his neighbors bumper). Haha, and people say shifting in theĀ mountains is hard. šĀ ~Nathaniel, 16 years
I wonder why everyone comments and reposts far more often on social media than blogs. We love hearing from our buddy Dan, but how about the rest of you? If you like hearing about our travels and tips, please pass this on to your camping friends. Thanks!
Mom thinks I should give you a list of where I drove. *’s = I drove with the trailer.
I-94 *
Us-2*
Going to the sun Rd in the park
Bison Ranch in Canada
I-90*
Nothing bad has happened yet! š
We went to see the opening of a rodeo and they had Kapuchen monkeys riding Border Collies. Out here, rodeos are more like festivals to us. They had all kinds of old rides with new names. I got to scale rock walls and ride a mechanical bull. I don’t know who won the wild horse race, but one horse got free and won the last 2 of 3 laps. I’m having fun eating Saskatoon berries. I wonder why we can’t buy them in MI. – Nathaniel
We thought about leaving the kids at McDonalds while we went and played a few slot (hehehe).
Montana is a gambling state that has voted down sales tax every single time, says the gal in the gift shop. They have a small population that supports local needs. Private donations, according to one of the Flat River Rescue Team leaders, are plentiful.
Starbucks and Wi-Fi, sweet Jesus we are back in civilization! When we were out West in 2009, we went to a rodeo and had a ton of fun. We won’t stay late, drunk cowboys are a tough crowd, but we’ll eat fair food and watch the roping and riding!
I love the soft adventures of camping. Sitting next to a campfire, drinking my morning coffee, reading one of Stephanie Plum’s adventures in a Janet Evanovich mystery. That’s my kinda day! My two Eagle Scouts are looking for a challenge, an adventure.
Today we had a teachable moment in Red Rock Canyon. Go to the northern boarder of Montana, cross at the summer-only boarder crossing, and head to the very north end of Waterton Peace Park. This parking area has recently been repaved, the restrooms are vault toilets. It’s river water or a bring you own kinda place.
So it’s noon, we’re at the trailhead heading out on a hike, and here come a mountain biker gal busting into view yelling for a satellite phone to call 911. There are 50 people or so who hit their cars looking for a signal, but no one has one. No one has a satellite phone, and there’s no ranger phone at the new restrooms. We are 30 minutes drive from a Ranger station, and she has the only bike. Her biking partner, who fell and can’t mover her legs, is 8 km out in the trail. That’s five US miles. One guy says he’s a doctor, and sounds like he’s Canadian. He headed out on the trail (using her bike) to find the hurt biker. The other gal heads to the ranger station in her car. There wasn’t much we could do but prayer for her.Ā
One hour into this, we are having lunch and the ranger comes in with the original biker. We hear him tell her there isn’t much we can do but wait. Half an hour later the helicopter flies in the rescuers and drops them on the trail using a long line between the trees. Two and a half hours from the time the biker yelled for 911, we see the injured gal and her bike, dangling from the chopper, fly over the canyon we are in.
They set her down in a field that had a rescue team ambulance. When we left at 3:00 PM, we passed the hospital transport ambulance that would get her the medical attention she needed. What an eye-opener. I had read that this was not the place for family biking, and today we saw why. What an amazing rescue!
ļ»æ
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| The Helicopter Made Numerous Trips To The Crash Site |
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| Rescuing the Injured Bicyclist |
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| RescuingĀ HerĀ Bike FromĀ The Woods |
Well, we rolled over the odometer here in GNP. Thank goodness it’s paid off. Mike thinks the van’s value lost $1,800.00. Any other guesses? We’ll blue book it at home.
Purple huckleberries and Saskatoon berries are in season. The kids are picking Saskatoon, which tasted great added to sun tea and pancake batter.
Driving The Road to the Sun today, we saw a grizzly bear ambling down the road. We took tons of pictures with our Canon, but none I can upload. He stopped at a log laying on the ground and tore it open with his paws looking for grubs. Nothing there, so he went on his way. This was the fourth, yes fourth, sighting we’ve had in twenty-four hours. This guy was the best, the mama and her cub on a hillside was a close second. I now have a bear bell on my hiking backpack and Mike carries bear spray everywhere. As we were driving, he asked the kids “What’s the difference between grizzle and black bear scat? The grizzle’s is full of bells and smells like pepper spray. Hilarious, isn’t he?
Day 1:
Well on the first day, we drove, and drove, and guess what? Drove… When we got into Wisconsin (the place I associate with cheese, sorry to anyone who lives there) we stopped at a cheese place and bought a few pounds of it. That was pretty much what happened until we got to the hotel. We then went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in the Mall Of America. I was proud of myself because I didn’t spend ANYTHING there. That was good, then we shopped for a little while then went swimming in the hotel’s pool.
Day 2:
On the second day we drove farther than the first. Can you believe it? On the first day we only drove about 500 miles, but the second day it was about 700 miles… We saw the Badlands and took a few pictures there before driving some more. After we got to the hotel we swam for a while. TIP: Hot tubes feel GREAT after a cramped up day in the car š Warm beds also are great.
Day 3:
Countdown To Camping 