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7/7
Just hung out today. The Roadhouse will check out in the morning & we started packing up. We took pics of our neighbors, who happened to be camp hosts here, along with several other couples. We have enjoyed their conversations and good humor. Tom & Rhonda are full-timers who spend their winters in Texas. They have worked in several other campground settings and the lifestyle agrees with them. They also enjoy the company of 2 cats & one daschund named Sadie, who is a total character. To conclude our day, we shared dinner at our picnic table with Ted & Anne. It has been so pleasant to enjoy a few meals outside. The weather is nice & no real trouble with bugs. We are awfully spoiled, me thinks.
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7/8
Ted & Anne prepared a lovely breakfast served at their picnic table as we said our farewells. It has been a real treat to share the past 3 weeks with them & we are going to miss their company. We took off for Missoula MT about 10 am with clear skies and no wind. We decided to take Route 200 instead of going miles out of our way to get to the interstate. 200 is a good road with lots of scenery and a good look at several very small towns along the way. It loosely follows the Clark Fork River, so we had glances at it most of our travel day. Sooo much water! As we got closer to Missoula, we got onto Route 93. After a few miles, we realized the route was familiar. We had used this route 2 years ago to get to some sightseeing at the National Bison Refuge when we stayed at Missoula on our way to Glacier. We reached our destination, Jim & Mary’s RV Park, and felt like we were coming home. Still lovely with green, green grass & lots of trees & the beautiful pots & plantings of robustly blooming flowers everywhere. It was a bit warmer than in Hope, but the night cooled off just fine. We found the Costco & supermarket & spent some coin. We are only here for 2 nights before we head to Helena.
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The Clark Fork River followed us quite a way as we left Hope on our trek to Missoula
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Jim & Mary’s RV Park in Missoula. Jim & Mary no longer own the park, but their successors have maintained the quality.
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Just one flowerbed of many all around the park and at a good number of rv sites.
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7/9
Another beautiful day begins with sunshine and nice surroundings. We did some necessary cleaning and took off for Rock Creek to check out the fishing. As we completed the beautiful drive through this narrow, flat valley we came upon what we think was a small herd of Rocky Mountain ewe sheep. (After getting the pics, we asked a guide & he thought that’s what they were.) We simply stopped the truck at the roadside & watched them munching on someone’s lawn. Something from the house spooked them & they, as graceful as ballerinas, effortlessly soared over a barbed-wire fence next to the yard into a field with grass about 3 foot high. They moved as one with everything we saw them do. They looked this way & that way. Feeling safe, they sauntered back THROUGH the bent & widely spaced wire fence and began munching on the family’s lawn once again. They stared at us from time to time. But we just remained quiet & they ignored us. Why they wanted the mowed grass rather than the tall grass is a question they would not answer. Even though we didn’t know what animal they were for sure, we felt that we were in the company of something special. They have a regal look to them and appear to be quite intelligent. What an experience we enjoyed! We returned to Jim & Mary’s to attend the Wednesday evening ice cream social w/entertainment. They serve huckleberry ice cream, a super treat, and Legrand Harvey & sidekick entertain us with their songs & instruments. The lead singer, Legrand, is a guitarist and his sidekick plays mandolin, banjo & native-American drum. They are the cowboy and the Indian. They entertain the RV park crowd with a Montana-themed show. With western songs, many written by the singer, and humor & great playing, they entertained us for about 1 ˝ hours. We enjoyed this same evening 2 years ago when staying here. The ice cream is just as yummy and the show is just as fun.
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Small herd of about 8 Rocky Mountain ewe sheep in a family’s front yard. They had been enjoying grazing on the lawn & merely gave us a quick look before returning to their meal.
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Something in the area of the home spooked them and they effortlessly leaped over the barbed-wire fence.
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They carefully watch the area where the noise spooked them. They watch and move as a unit.
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Feeling safe, they return by walking through the fence, give us a quick look and return to grazing the mowed grass.
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A portion of the valley along Rock Creek Rd. Look closely & you see tiny buildings at the foot of the hills. Those are actually very large barns & farm buildings. Those are really mountains. Quite pretty in the late afternoon sun.
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The stars of the Wednesday night ice cream social at Jim & Mary’s RV Park. We enjoyed their show very much. Sorry, no pics of the ice cream. Gary inhaled it before I could take a shot.
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