Rally Bound Via Glacier NP - Montana Owners Club

HamRad · 08-12-2004, 10:43 PM

Well folks if all goes according to plan we will be on the road again early this coming Monday morning. We will leave Baking Bakersfield for the north. We'll make our way up the SJ Valley and into Oregon. Then up the Columbia to around Pasco. From there we will make a weekend stop in Spokane to meet a relative. Then on to the Park! Actually we've decided to take it easy and take two days to go from Spokane to the Park.

We're meeting Jim n Karen in Glacier. They are hosting there again this year. We are looking forward to a great time. We hear that this is perhaps one of the most scenic parks in the whole system!

Next we head south and east. We're going to try to see Devil's Tower in WY. Then a short trip into the Mt. Rushmore area. That's pretty much the extent of our more in depth sight seeing. From there on over to the Rally we're mostly just driving thru. We are stopping and meeting up with Random Line at his soon to be sold house. Congratulations Jim and Fredricka..... I know you're glad that is out of the way. We are planning to loop up thru MN and across WI and into northern MI. But we won't have a lot of time to spend in any particular spot. From northern MI we will just head south to the Goshen area.

This will be our longest ever trip in our Montana. And a first in terms of country seen. So it promises to be a great trip.

We are trying out our latest electronic gadget..... a Verizon phone card for the laptop. We have the unlimited connection package and are hoping that we'll be in good digital service areas most of our trip. We get so lost when we can't get our daily fix of the MOC! LOL.....

Hope to meet all of you at the Rally. And if you see a huge white Ford diesel pulling a huge 3295 Montana.....One clue that it will be us is because we have about 5 various kinds of antennas on top of the truck..... give us a wave! Or flash the lights. I'm not good at flashing the lights but do pretty good with the wave. And as always feel free to follow us via our automatic GPS tracking system.

See you in Goshen! Dennis and Mary Kay

Joyce H · 08-13-2004, 02:11 AM

Safe travel to ya'. Looking forward to meeting you at the rally.

CountryGuy · 08-13-2004, 03:22 AM

Sounds like a fab trip, small note: Verizon probably will be OK for phone calls in some areas of the UP of Michigan, but not sure you will have enough "juice" for computer and surfing. Let us know on that, will ya??

See ya end of September in Goshen

Oh, hope you packed some warmies, it can be pretty chilly in the UP of Michigan, even in early September. (it was in the 50's there this AM) And, try to see Taquamenen Falls (not sure I spelled that correctly), they are beautiful no matter what the season!!

Cheers, and safe travels.

Carol

vickster · 08-13-2004, 03:38 AM

HamRad - Safe travels to you. Sounds like it is going to be a fabulous journey. Agree with CountryGuy -- take an all season wardrobe -- you just never know what to expect in WIS and UP. Been living in our sweatpants, sweatshirts and flannels the past three days. Looking forward also to meeting you and being a part of the very first Monty Rally!!! Happy and continued safe trails .....

D and M On The Road · 08-13-2004, 04:23 AM

Dennis and Mary Kay....... your trip sounds wonderful! You'll be traveling some of the most beautiful country up there in British Columbia.

We'll be watching your travels via your satellite GPS tracking system..hahaha... as we said before, we kinda feel like "peeping toms" watching your travel progress. Those pictures are incredible that the system produces.

The MOC rally should be very exciting as it's the first one and we are very disappointed not to be able to attend.
We own an automotive repair facility and Doug can only leave for up to a week at a time. My job is somewhat more flexible with me only working two days a week in summers so hopefully a West Coast MOC meet will get planned for next year that we can attend.
So, happy RVing.... put the "pedal to the metal" and maybe we'll be able to catch you and Mary Kay on your next travels near us.

Searchers · 08-14-2004, 06:30 AM

Dennis & Mary Kay,

We too will be spying on you on your trip through our area and further north. Drive safely, watch out for other guy, and give us a shout when you arrive.

Don

HamRad · 08-14-2004, 08:35 PM

Don has the fire caused you any concern? I'm not even sure it's in your area but someone said something about a fire up in your area. Hope all is well. HamRad

Searchers · 08-15-2004, 04:26 PM

The fires in the Redding area are 60 miles south of us and according to the latest news reports they are fairly well contained at this time. We did have a lot of smoke from them the last few days, but it's cleared out now.

Don

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by HamRad

Don has the fire caused you any concern? I'm not even sure it's in your area but someone said something about a fire up in your area. Hope all is well. HamRad

patodonn · 08-17-2004, 02:03 PM

HamRad:

Headed close to the same route, only westbound. Presently at Whitefish RV Park in Rapid River, MI. Nice small place for a couple of nights. Iron River, WI, next, then Detroit Lakes area of MN.

Fargo, Bismarck, Bozeman, then West Yellowstone over Labor Day weekend. On to Boise and kids/grandkids. Mid-Sept through Oct from Boise into WA/OR.

Just passed through an incredibly beautiful small town, Charlevoix, MI. Rte 31 from just south of the Mackinaw Bridge. Petoskey to Charlevoix on Rte 31 is a magnificent drive, close to the shore of Lake Mich. Traverse City, MI is a very nice area, as well. Just saw GW there yesterday!! Timing is everything!!

Drive safe...we will be asking questions about your route/stops later on as we head west.

Best,

Random Line · 08-17-2004, 04:08 PM

We are looking forward to seeing you guys soon. Say just a word of warning for highloads. There is a low underpass at the Rail Road Crossing in the center of Pierre on US Highways 14 and 83. Like 11 ft plus a couple inches clearance. There are grade crossings to use a block or two either way. No Montana has made it under this thing todate or combine either. Its a good place to look for spare parts. Some are a little bent however.

Enjoy your trip and drive safe.

sreigle · 08-18-2004, 02:59 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by CountryGuy

Oh, hope you packed some warmies, it can be pretty chilly in the UP of Michigan, even in early September. (it was in the 50's there this AM) And, try to see Taquamenen Falls (not sure I spelled that correctly), they are beautiful no matter what the season!!

Cheers, and safe travels.

Carol

You got that right! That's the first place I've ever been where for the entire week plus we had to have heaters running at night and more often than not I had to wear long pants instead of my shorts and sandals. Vicki loved it. I thought it was chilly. She's nuts, though.

CountryGuy · 08-18-2004, 03:49 PM

That is camping in Michigan for sure, Steve!!

We always pack, swim suits, shorts, long pants, thermies, light jackets, warmer jackets, and winter jackets with hats and gloves to camp in Michigan even in mid July or August.

We were at the lake July 19 thru Aug 3rd. We ran the air conditioner a few days, open windows a lot more days, and the furnace one night, cause it was chillllllly!!

Course, you were here during a particularly cool snap! Daily temps have been running about 10 to 15 degrees below norm. Al and I have lived in this house for 9 years now, this is the first year the grass did not burn up. Blast, that means we have been cutting all summer long. Green grass, who knew it grew in Michigan in August??

Cheers, Carol

HamRad · 08-23-2004, 09:25 PM

Well folks we are making progress on our trip. We are now at Glacier National Park. We'll be here for about 3 more days.

We did bring along both our Bakersfield clothes.... shorts and sandals ala Steve Reigle. LOL And our winter gear. Long sweats and coats..... heck we even splurged and bought an umbrella or two as well as a couple of rain "panchos". What is that wet stuff that keeps falling out of the sky up here in the north country? We don't have this happen down where we live!

See you all on down the road. Dennis and Mary Kay

Just148 · 08-24-2004, 02:32 AM

Dennis, I was camping in West Branch, Michigan two weeks ago upper Michigan and had to use my portable heaters. Bring winter wear.

sreigle · 08-24-2004, 02:15 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by HamRad

What is that wet stuff that keeps falling out of the sky up here in the north country? We don't have this happen down where we live!

See you all on down the road. Dennis and Mary Kay

Dennis, is it clear or is it white? Is it soft or hard?

Wendell and Margaret, we also had to use space heaters when we were up there. And I had to dig out my long jeans, sweatshirts, and even a jacket! In August, no less. New experience for us!

HamRad · 08-24-2004, 04:08 PM

Steve,
Oh no! You mean this stuff comes in different colors and consistencies? I don't think I can handle much more of this! LOL....... We drove into Glacier today but could only go a short distance on the "Going to the Sun" highway. They had a massive rock slide about half way up it. And of course it rained all day again. We dropped by the park where Jim and Karan are hosts. Very nice park. But since they had to go home early due to some personal issues and because it was raining we elected to stay in a FHU park. Very pretty mountain setting.

See you all soon. Wow! We are getting excited seeing all the rigs signed up for the rally.

HamRad

sreigle · 08-25-2004, 02:12 PM

Dennis and Mary Kay, it sounds like you're having a great trip, slowly working your way to Indiana. What a great way to do it! See you folks soon. And will get your books back to you!

HamRad · 09-05-2004, 12:53 PM

Hello everyone,
We met Random Line and his lovely wife at their soon to be ex-hometown of Pierre, SD.
Spent a couple of nights a really nice little city CG in Fort Pierre. It is located right at the confluence of the Bad and Missouri Rivers. We are now a couple of hundred miles east of there in another really nice little city park in Brookings, SD. Tomorrow we go to Minneapolis, MN. Slowly but surely making our way to the Rally. Wow did we get rained on today. Right in the middle of the front. But not too cold so we are adjusting OK. My GPS is still not working. I'll troubleshoot that tomorrow before we take off. Take care and see you all soon. HamRad

HamRad · 09-12-2004, 03:56 PM

We have arrived at the Escapees Escapade at Goshen, IN. There are about a thousand rigs here. Also the GPS system is now up and working...... at least it updates every now and then. I still have not figured out what is causing the problem. Now I seem to have blown a fuse to my power outlets in the truck! We are happy to be here as we had grown tired of so much traveling. We're also really looking forward to meeting everyone at the Montana Rally next week. Since we left MN we've had pretty nice weather and in fact the weather here in IN is almost perfect. I hope it holds for our Rally next week. See you all soon. HamRad

toolmanroy · 09-14-2004, 05:46 AM

We lived in Indiana (Roy is Hoosier) for 12 years and enjoyed many Indian summer days around this time of year. If anyone is there into October the Covered Bridge Festival is coming up in Park County/Rockville (near Terre Haute). There are tents full of wonderful handmade items and goodies and the food is unbelievable. That is on our list of many places to re-visit when we get the chance.

You may also like: