Saturday, October 27/2012

I awoke to the sounds of gunfire this morning.  It took all I had not to jump out of bed and hit the floor!!  Jesus, they are shooting at us!!   I had forgotten the love affair that the Americans have with their guns. I guess it must be goose hunting season as I heard several more shots and the unmistakable call of geese.  I am not sure if these hunters are very good shots or not, as a few times I looked out when the gunfire was happening I saw several geese fly overhead but none fell from the sky so I said a silent cheer for them.
We will be heading into Helena, Montana today to get new tires on the trailer.  One tire now keeps wanting to go flat so I imagine that it is a good thing to replace that one at least.
It is only -1C here this morning so it is pleasant out.  Hogan was out for a quick pee and came running back in as soon as the guns started up.  He is such a chicken liver!!  There are a few deer in the field next to the bus but they too are rather skittish with all the gunfire and I suspect that  they will head into the hills soon and be gone.
Before we started our trip this morning, John went out to check on things in the trailer and found that one trailer tire was flat so had to spend time pumping it back up for the trip to the tire shop.  While he was outside doing that, I got a few pics of some fly fisherman who where floating down the Missouri River beside the bus attempting to catch a few trout.  It was neat seeing them and hopefully the pics turn out.
We got into Helena in about an hour but travelled through a rather winding little valley on the way there.  It reminded me of a roller coaster as we went up a hill and down a hill, going around this curve and then the next curve and we travelled through blowing snow, a bit of rain and then fog.   I think we hit three seasons, all within that hour.
We found the tire shop without any difficulty and that was a very good thing as the tire that John had blown up this morning was pretty much flat again!!   Tire Rama  had the two new tires on in no time and we were good to go.  We then headed to the nearest Walmart, where I finished off the last of my shopping (there is no tax in this state).  There was a huge open field right beside the Walmart and this is where we decided to stay for the night.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders are playing football this afternoon and we arrived about half an hour before kickoff.  What great timing!!
As it turned out, the Riders lost so may have to cross to the Eastern Division for the finals - this may not be a bad thing but, we will see.
It is Saturday so that means BBQ steak and baked potato for supper. Mmmm......  I picked up two portabello mushrooms in Walmart so will add that to the menu as well.
We spent a quiet evening in front of the TV although I had my face buried in a good book for most of the day and continued to read while I watched TV.  It can be done you know.

What's this coming down the Missouri River?

Fly fishermen

They are going about 5 MPH

Weird looking little fishing boats

Heading out

Going through Craig MT

Sweet little town

A little fog on the mountains

Our spot for the night- Helena,  MT

It remains above zero so the weather has been holding rather nicely for us.  Tomorrow, we will continue our travels South and hopefully stay ahead of the cold weather.

Friday, October 26/2012

It was only -5C (23F) when I got up this morning so all should be well with the plumbing in the bays.  I still have water coming through the taps so nothing is frozen and that is a very good thing.
I have started the generator and plugged in the block heater for the bus engine as John has always said that if one walks past a Cummins engine with an ice cream cone, it will have trouble starting!!  Apparently, these engines do not like the cold weather either!!
We will be crossing into the United States of America today and so will begin the "American" leg of our journey.  I am sure that as we travel further south, the weather will stay above zero and eventually we will no longer require the heaters.  That however is a few weeks away (depending on how long John takes to get us to Arizona).
I was chatting with our neighbour Kay this morning (got to love Facebook) and she is still in Nephi, Utah working on the road crew and is in the same temperatures we are.  She too is sitting at 23F and freezing her arse off.  In temperatures like this, I am sure laying asphalt is not any fun.
We got to the border crossing and crossed without any difficulty although I have forgotten that green onions were not allowed into the States so they were taken.  Apparently, green peppers are not allowed either but since I had cut it and it was in a ziploc bag, the border agent allowed us to keep it.  This year, the fellows actually checked Hogan's papers too!!  Wow!!  this is the first time anyone has checked to see if the dog's rabies shot was current.
Even with the scrutiny at the border crossing, we were out of there in less than 10 minutes.  We now begin the American road miles.  There is little to no snow here and the roads are dry.
We stopped at Malta to fill up on propane and diesel and of course I had to buy a 30 pack of Keystone for $17.00.
We did run into a bit of blowing snow today but it was not sticking to the road so the road was only wet and not icy.
Our travels today took us along the Belknap Indian Reservation.  This reservation was established in 1888 and is what remains of the ancestral territory of the Blackfeet and Nakoda nations.  It is scheduled to receive some of the pure bred buffalo from Yellowstone National Park that were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in March of this year so who knows, maybe the next time we are down this way, there will be free range buffalo for me to photograph.
We arrived at our camping spot for the night near Craig, Montana.  We are parked along side the Missouri River along with several Canada Geese.  There is a herd of deer grazing in the field next to the bus and Hogan is lying on the dash growling!!  John and I are oh so protected from them tonight so they had better be careful and not get too close to the bus!!

Montana 191 S

Montana #2 West

Awesome architecture on this old church

Bear Paw Mountains

Getting on the big road

Missouri River at Great Falls MT 

Caught up to the Geese

Buffalo Fish - who would have thought!!

Saw this polar bear sculpture on top of a closed restaurant

Heading into the Mountains on I-15 W

different color for sunset

there is snow in them there hills

Sun going down

More Awesome

Sunset and the Missouri River

Wow - I so love sunsets

Deer in the field where we parked

Stopped along the Missouri River

Our spot for the night

We were parked in time to watch the football game and then played a game of scrabble (I lost - again no surprise there).  I had put a beef roast into the slow cooker along with onions and carrots and it cooked as we travelled.  Mmmmm - it smelled so good.  I boiled up some potatoes and made some gravy and presto - supper was ready.  I will start my diet tomorrow!!

Thursday, October 25/2012

It is Kim's birthday today so we are sending her all sorts of good wishes.  Happy Birthday Kimmy!!

Today we are starting to head South.  We have been here in Saskatoon for too long and, now that the snow is on the ground and the roads are icy.....it is time to leave.  

We pulled out of the farm yard at noon.  Surprisingly, the roads are dry and hopefully it will remain this way until we stop for the night.  OH, such wishful thinking!!

We ran into the first patch of icy road just outside of Outlook.  I buried myself in my kindle and totally pretended that I was not worried (all the time clenching my ass cheeks and leaving my fingerprints in the "oh Shit" bar)  I am rather good at that and John soon drove us out of the treachery and back onto dry pavement.  

We had good road until we were just about at Swift Current and once again I buried my face in the kindle.  It was either that or I would have had to do the "teleport" thing again!!  As you probably guessed, I am not a good traveler when the roads are icy!!

Once we got to Swift Current, we stopped at A&W for the last teen burger we would have for six months.  Some sacrifices are necessary to get out of the snow and cold!!

When we left Swift, the road was great and there was little to no snow all the way to our favourite overnight parking spot - the gravel pit a few miles from the border crossing.

Hogan was glad to get out and run around a bit as he has not settled completely into his "travel" mode as yet.  It will happen.

Leaving Gloria and Bernie's yard

Heading down Hwy 11 S

Crossing the South SK River by Outlook

Hwy 15 W SK

Cleaning up a rolled Semi's load on Hwy 4 S, SK

A rare site - a snow plow on Saskatchewan highways!!

Our spot for the night

We started the generator and turned on all the heaters and before too long, the bus was warm and toasty.  The temperature is not to get too cold tonight ( -9 C ) so we should be good to go. We have not had any frozen pipes yet and tonight is not a good time to start.

We will be crossing into the US of A tomorrow so our "American" journey begins.