Thursday, October 26/2017

16 K to cheap beer!

The stinking wind howled all night and once again we got to enjoy a free circus ride with the RV rocking and swaying most of the night.  Finally, about 5:00a.m. the wind died down and I was able to actually turn the fridge back on and it stayed on!!  Woo Hoo!!
There was a skiff of snow along the tall grass in the gravel pit but the rest of the ground was clear. Always a good thing when one does not have to drive in the snow!!
We got all packed up and that did not take very long as there was only the two chairs and the campfire in a can to put into the trailer.  I got the dishes done up from last night's supper then got the trailer into "travel mode" which basically means toss everything into the kitchen sink so that it doesn't go flying off the counter during the day!!
It wasn't long before we were at the border.  This usually goes without a hitch but today the two border guards asked us if we were positive our passports were valid.  Well Duh.....they are good until 2024!!  They kind of both had a smirk on their faces and then one of them asked if we were so sure they were valid, would we bet our house that they were.....or the truck and trailer??  What..... I said "come on, you have got to be kidding!!".  When he said he wasn't and we mentioned that we would not bet the house (not that we even had a house) or the truck and trailer, the one guard asked John to read the third page of the passport which said that the passport MUST be signed to be valid!!  Well Holy Buckets.....here we have been travelling to Arizona and back for several years now WITHOUT signed passports and NO ONE, had ever mentioned it before!!  Good Grief!!   We all had a little giggle, they made us sign them and we were granted permission to come into the United States of America and to enjoy our winter.  We wished the "boys" well, said "Stay Warm" and headed south towards our destination.

Loring MT (the whole town but for the Church)

It is always a relief to drive on the Montana highways as they actually take care of theirs and after the last few miles of Totally Shitty Saskatchewan highway - well, it is nice not to have your teeth rattling around in your head!!   It is with awe that we enter into the first "town" in Montana.  The town of Loring.  Every year is seems to get smaller and smaller and one of these years....I am sure it will only be a memory of "used to be".

Glasgow MT

Our first official stop is always Malta, Montana where we fill up on fuel, propane and cheap beer!! Good grief....$17.99 for a 30 pack!!  Hard to wrap your mind around prices like that when we are so used to paying 45 buck for a 24 pack!!  There are some VERY GOOD things down here!!
We are taking a different, more circuitous route this year as John has said he is tired of driving the same old way so we headed East on Highway 2 towards the town of Glasgow and the Fort Peck Reservoir.
It was a 60 mile trip but took us through some really nice ranch and farm land.  By the end of the day, we had seen 6 big mule deer and several antelope,  None of them seemed to terribly worried about us and if I was a little quicker with the camera, I would of had them in this blog!!
When we got to Glasgow, we hit the local liquor store and I asked if they had a Verizon store in town as the Bloody Phone was acting up again.  Now there is no way that I can not have service right in town!!  Good Grief....and the phone drama continues!!  As it turned out, the Verizon store was across the street and down the block and we headed over there.
The phone needed an upgrade so after an hour, that was complete and we were on our way once more.  Of course the really sweet young woman at Verizon mentioned that there was not enough room for the upgrade so we had to delete Facebook, Messenger and Snapchat to do it but they could be put back on when the upgrade was done.   Oh, and by the way, the Sim card reader is worn out and that is why you keep getting the message "invalid or no sim card"!!  Shit, Oh Dear....phone drama!!
Ok, I have service and I only hope that this latest upgrade will get us to Arizona where I can actually get a brand new phone!

Heading into our spot for the night

A few miles down the road, the Fort Peck Reservoir came into view and as luck would have it, there was a handy dandy campground right along the shore!  Now, isn't that a treat as it was time for an adult beverage and Booko had to pee!!

Fort Peck Reservoir

Fort Peck Reservoir or Fort Peck Lake as it is often called is a major reservoir in Montana formed by the Fort Peck Dam and the Missouri River.  This "lake" is so big that it actually reaches into 6 counties.  It was built between 1933 and 1940 by the US Corp of Engineers and was first filled to capacity in 1947.  When full, Fort Peck Lake is the 5th largest artificial lake in the USA!!   It is 134 miles long with a twisted, inlet studded shoreline of 1520 miles.  Now THAT is a big lake!!
The Missouri River along with the Musselshell River and several smaller creeks (Forchette, Timber, Hell and Dry) feed the reservoir.  Twenty seven designated Recreation sites and campgrounds dot the shoreline and it is surrounded by the Charles M. Russel National Wildlife Refuge.  It truly is a remarkable site to see.

A few geese following us

When we arrived at our camping spot today, the Canada Geese were floating along the shoreline and there was one deer walking around as if it didn't have a care in the world.
It was chilly when we arrived so it was not a day to sit out and enjoy the sights.  Perhaps tomorrow will be better for that but I am really not going to hold my breath on that one as it is Fall and the sunshine may not show its face!!

Our spot for the night

All in all, it was a good day's travel with us ending up at this pretty awesome spot for the night.  It is always good to see different parts of this country and so far, we are not disappointed!!   Life is Good!!