September 6, 2010

From Ennis, MT, N45°22.088’ W111°43.681’

Day 95

Moving Day! I had already gone over my checklist before travel during the last couple of days. Today I went around the bays making sure everything was stowed securely, unhooked and put away the cable line and water hose. Since we had been parked under trees and during all the wind heard small things hitting the roof, I went up there to check. I took a broom with me. Mostly it was just twigs, one larger piece was on the debris awning of the large slide room. I swept the water off the debris awnings. One ongoing problem is that the awning on the large slide has a long rafter down the center and two smaller ones going side to side. When it rains water gathers between the cross rafters and will give you a shower if you are out there when the room is retracted. The last thing I unplugged was the power.

After getting the inside ready to travel and hooking up the Jeep, we were out of the park a little before 11. First stop was for fuel. We went about 2 miles to a Flying J. Interestingly there is a Pilot across the street. I guess since Pilot bought Flying J last year they haven’t had time to close locations or rebrand them. Ignoring the sign that said “RVs Use RV pumps only” I fueled up at the truck island. No line and the nozzle is larger, getting the job done quicker. I had talked to a clerk last week who told me they would sell me diesel no matter which pump I used.

Our route took us south on I-15 to Helena. About half way to Helena you leave the prairie and start into mountainous terrain. The grades aren’t bad but there was about 15 miles of two-lane with reduced speed. Most of the way from Great Falls to Helena the Missouri River is on the side of the highway. I don’t know how many times we crossed it, but for awhile it’s on the left and then it’s on the right.

At Helena we turned east and south on US-287. This highway runs pretty much along the Missouri until the town of Toston. We stopped at a small BLM Campground for lunch. I pulled into the day use area and realized I should have gone through the campground. There wasn’t room to turn around with the Jeep attached in the day use area. The campground on the other hand was a loop. I had to unhook the Jeep to turn around.

After passing Tosten the highway turns a little west. We didn’t know until later that was our last sight of the Missouri. When we reached the town Three Forks we noticed that the river signs now named the Jefferson River and later the Madison River. Three Forks is where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers come together to form the Missouri.

Sometime past Three Forks we noticed that there were snowcapped mountains to the southeast.

Madison Mountains

We arrived at the RV Park at about 3:30 PM. While registering I ask about the train ride from Nevada City to Virginia City. The lady said today was probably the last day of the season. When we got parked Gerri called and found out the last train for the day left Nevada City at 4:30. After a hurried partial set up off we went to catch the train, about 14 miles away. We left the park at 4. The road goes through the hills with a lot of grades and curves. Who ever posted a 70 mph speed on this road wasn’t driving a Jeep Liberty. At 70 it is more suited for a low slung sports car. Even without being able to go the speed limit we made it with a few seconds to spare.

Alder Gulch Train (more pictures are in my Facebook albums)

It turned out the train was open air, we were concerned for Glenna’s comfort. She complains of being cold at 80 degrees. Getting up and down stairs and onto the train was a chore with the walker, but she made it. The train takes about an hour to go the 4 miles from Nevada City to Virginia City and back. This was a booming place during the gold rush, over 10,000 people lived here. There are still a lot of old buildings and equipment.

Before leaving Virginia City I found one cache near the old Boot Hill. On the way back to the RV Park we decided to go through the main part of the town of Ennis. It didn’t take long, one street a few blocks long and you are out of town.

Remember the painted buffalo we hunted in Great Falls? Well here in Ennis they have painted fish out of water. We spotted and photographed 6. One was in a small park in the center of town. The park had a gazebo. As I was lining up my shots of the fish, I glimpsed some red plastic under the corner of the gazebo. I looked at the GPS in the Jeep and sure enough there was a cache. A lucky surprise find.

Montana River Dreams (more pictures in albums on my Facebook account)

Back at the RV Park we had the leftovers from On the Border for supper and watched the history channel until bedtime where we enjoy watching Pawn Stars and Pickers. Another new show we have found pleasantly interesting on the History channel is Swamp People.