July 1, 2010

From Great Falls, MT, ID N47°29.386’ W111°19.942’

Day 28, Caravan Day -4

I unplugged everything but the electricity last night, so the outside stuff was done shortly after I got up this morning. We left Libby at 9:30 after a stop at McDonalds for some breakfast.

We headed east on US-2, well as east as you can on a highway that wanders around so much. We stopped in Kalispell for fuel and continued on to US-89. We traveled through West Glacier, a corner of Glacier Park and on to East Glacier. A beautiful drive mostly along the Flathead River with forests and snow covered mountains in sight all around.

After passing Browning, MT we were on the rolling plains. It was very green and I was surprised how few cattle we saw. Just after leaving the Blackfeet Reservation we came to a sign that said to take the quickest way to Great Falls by taking the turn east on Montana SR-44 to I-15. It was 28 miles to I-15 and as it turns out it was 12 miles shorter than staying on US-89.

We stopped at a rest stop near Dutton, MT and I tried to find a cache. The GPSR pointed into a brushy area. There was a warning sign in the rest area warning of rattlesnakes. Between that and several mosquitoes landing on me I quit searching without finding the cache.

The weather forecast for the Great Falls area was for thunderstorms and we saw several really black areas of sky as we got closer to Great Falls. We arrived at Dick’s RV Park at about 4 Pm. It was raining a little, large drops but not real heavy. We got set up and I went to a mixer at a room in the park. I met the wagon master and the tail gunner and a few other people going on the caravan.

I decided to clean the Jeep. The little bit of rain we had come through made it too dirty to see out the windows. I finished that job about dark. There were a few mosquitoes buzzing around, the breeze kept them at bay, so I only got a few bites.

Our caravan activities don’t officially start until Monday afternoon, but 12 of the 20 RVs going are already here. We don’t plan to do a lot between now and when we head north on Tuesday. Maybe a few caches and some shopping.

Obviously the picture was taken in the winter and only permanent units are shown. Imagine it with trees and every space full. The red highlight is our spot.