First Spring Walk

 I was rarin' to go on my first Spring walk today. Mr. Keith had a Hospice volunteer ready to sit with him for 2-3 hours so I could get out by myself, an unheard of treat. Our favorite thing to do is take hikes around Missoula, but his cancer has taken its toll and he can no longer do the brisk walks we formerly loved. I chose McClay Flats, one of our most favored trails. I've always loved this ponderosa. It's difficult to tell whether one tree has four trunks, or whether it is four trees vying for the same piece of ground.

 How many times have I taken this picture, I wonder? It's always beautiful in any season. The Bitterroot River is especially low this time of year.

 This is a first! I saw lots of dogs walking their owners today, but from a slight distance these "dogs" appeared to have horns! The young couple agreed to let me take their picture. The gal said they are training their pets to be pack goats. They indeed walked very nicely on their leashes.

 The buttercup is always the first Spring flower. I wasn't disappointed to spot several of these beauties nestled in the dry grass.

Last Spring we had a terrific flood in the Bitterroot Valley and beyond. You can see in the photo how high the water came and how it washed away quite a bit of ground. This lone ponderosa almost succumbed to the chilling, raging torrent and seems to still be holding on for dear life.

I am happy to once again be able to contribute to my neglected blog. I hope I have many more opportunities to share my photos and experiences.

Missoula MT to La Junta CO

 After a year and a half in one place, our longest stay since our workamping years, we are on the road again, heading east and south from Missoula MT to La Junta CO, 1,000 miles. This is super exciting for us! We wondered if our rig and our BigTruk would remember how to roll. They did! This scene is somewhere between Missoula and Bozeman.

 Mr. Keith and I were anxious to stay at the Bozeman KOA, where we worked in 2013, and to see our former managers there. The park has been expanded and improved, which was fun for us to see.

 Here's Robert, enjoying some coffee with us and catching up with our families' news. The best part of our RVing lifestyle is the people we meet and have met and stayed in touch with. We may not ever see some of them again, but some we do, and it's always a pleasure.

 Somewhere on the road to Hardin MT.

 The Hardin KOA is a small, but pleasant park out in the middle of a farming area. We enjoyed our stay here. At this time of year, autumn, there are not many RVers staying. We thought about visiting the Monument to Custer's Last Stand, but have seen it several times, so we reluctantly passed it up this trip.

 I love this "fence" at the Hardin KOA. There were old bicycles circling the entire perimeter of the park, a unique and humorous idea for a fence. South of Hardin we passed through some very beautiful country, at least till we reached Buffalo WY and exited I-90 for I-25. Unfortunately, I couldn't snap pictures while traveling down the highway behind the 5th wheel.

After Buffalo the scenery changed to dry, mostly flat and treeless, not so pretty. Douglas WY is a nice little town known for the famous "Jackalope". Their town center features this cute statue. We stayed at the Douglas KOA, a fairly large, very well kept park.

 We were excited about visiting the Denver East/Strasburg KOA where we worked for two winters. After battling some pretty tough traffic heading south towards Denver, we got off on a toll freeway skirting the metropolis, then onto I-70 going east. It was almost like home, getting to Strasburg, especially when we found we'd been assigned Space #68, the very spot we occupied both winters, a fact unknown to the gal who put us there. For dinner we ordered chicken wings, which we had cooked numerous times, along with pizza, at the KOA when we were employed here. Yum! The next morning we had a joyous reunion with our former boss Tracy, breakfast and a wonderful visit at her house. We were sad to leave, but we were ready for the final leg of our 1000 mile journey.

The last leg of our journey was the shortest, and also the hardest, south from Limon on Hwy 71. The road was bumpy and things inside the RV spilled all over! This was a desolate road, but we came out on Hwy 50 and on to La Junta, our winter abode. Here we are at the KOA, in our spot for the next several months. We toured the town, population about 7,000, and found it to be neat, clean, and very attractive. We will love it here!

Waterworks Hill Hike

 I have a wonderful book titled "Day Hikes Around Missoula Montana". Each hike is broken down with descriptions, directions, difficulty, mileage, maps, etc. Since we've seen about everything around here that we want to see, we are spending my days off trying out a variety of hikes. We're starting with the more gentle hikes, not too steep and not over 3 miles. This one was 2.5 miles. Waterworks Hill is right across I-90 from downtown Missoula and the literature boasted both millions of wildflowers and awesome views of the city. We concur! The name comes from a huge, silver water reservoir on the hillside. I hope you will enlarge each of these photos to get the best view.

 Always a favorite of mine, the shy and beautiful Bitterroot adorned the hills here and there. These delicate, leafless flowers seem to prefer dry, rocky terrain. They even have a mountain range named for them.

 I could not identify this daisy-like flower, but was intrigued by the unusual leaf structure and color.

We climbed up and up quite a ways, then saw this scene ahead of us. Helpful hikers assured us there was a shortcut before the top of the hill which led to the return route we had planned. We decided that was the one for us!

 Looking back from the entrance to the shortcut we saw this gorgeous scene, Mt. Jumbo with the "L" and Mt. Sentinel with the famous "M". The valley between the two mountains is Hellgate Canyon where I-90 takes travelers east.

 Looking down from our high point we saw the trail below, heading back towards where we had left our car. It's called Cherry Gulch. I have always found it more difficult to go downhill rather than uphill, but what goes up must come down! These hills below are covered with a yellow flowering plant called Leafy Spurge, though it doesn't show too well in this photo.

 Coming down from the high, treeless and rocky hill above we came back into a young ponderosa pine forest with the leafy spurge thick all around.

One more photo along our trail, showing the spurge and other wildflowers, with majestic clouds shadowing Mt. Sentinel. The Waterworks Hill Hike was well worth exploring! We met lots of folks who were also out on this sunny, warm day.

A River Runs Through It

 This is the river that runs through Missoula, the Clark Fork. We're on the Caras Park walking trail and the building across the river is the old train station, very picturesque but no longer in use.

 The rivers in Montana are well known for their good fishing spots. Looks like Mr. Keith caught a big one!

 There are several trails in the city along the river. I like how they've made a walking bridge here underneath the Madison Street bridge, which leads to the University.

 I spied this lone fisherman. The spot here has the city on one side and the University on the other, but still makes a quiet fishing place. The bridge upriver is the railroad bridge.

Even a field of dandelions is beautiful!

There were lots of walkers and runners out on this sunny day. Many of them were probably college students, or maybe high school students. Folks were anxious to get out in the sunshine, as we were, since it had snowed the day before!

After walking across the Madison Street bridge and down the trail on the other side we crossed over the Higgins Street bridge to our parking spot in Caras Park. We saw two jet ski boats and, of course, there is always the "M" up on the hill. We'll try another part of the riverfront trail when the mood strikes us again!

Round About Missoula

 One week has passed since we arrived in Missoula and got our 5th wheel all set up and ready for the summer season. Mr. Keith and I have gone for a couple of drives, remembering where we liked to go when we were last here working at the KOA three years ago.

A favorite drive is up on the hill overlooking the city. This scene looks down on the University area, the reddish buildings to the right. As you can see, the hills are still snowy, and the trees are not quite filled out with their summer lushness. It is a beautiful sight!

Overlooking the valley is Lolo Peak, bright with its winter snow. We can see the peak out our living room window from our spot at the KOA.

Driving from the hill down towards the University of Montana we are always awed by the old city streets lined with trees. In another month each street will seem like a tunnel as the leaves come into their fullness, bending the branches into a canopy. Up ahead is one of many "round abouts", giving me the title for this blog post.

The Garden City is well known for the "M" up on the hill above the University of Montana campus. We actually climbed up there last time we were here! On most spring, summer and fall days hikers can be seen slogging up the zig zag trail. Some are plodding along, as we did, and others can be seen almost running up the gravel trail. I know one gal who does it every day just to stay in shape!

This "M" can be seen from quite a way off as one drives along I-90 heading east. As we approach the city and see the "M" we say, "Ah, at last, we're there!" It was fun to see that Bozeman also has an "M" on the hillside above town. It stands for the Montana State University. The trail up to that "M", however, is much steeper and more difficult to climb. We did not attempt that one last summer when we worked at the KOA there!

A quick shot of the entrance to the University. One day I will plan to get pictures of the stately and beautiful buildings on campus. We have many places to go and sights to see now that we are back in this lovely part of Montana!

Bozeman MT to Wenatchee WA

I am a little late putting up my blog posts. There is so much excitement and so much work travelling, setting up the rig, visiting people. Well, better late than never. This was our last day in Bozeman. We pulled into the Tire Factory to make sure all 12 tires on the 5th wheel and the truck were good to go.

Heading west from Bozeman, looking at the snow and wondering how Homestake Pass would be... there was snow right up to the road but none on the road.

This view is nearing Missoula. We've passed this way so many times. It is always beautiful.

Here we're getting closer to the ascent to Lookout Pass. There is a rainbow over us. You can barely see it in the picture. Clouds are looming and some rain has begun to fall.

Lookout Pass and the Idaho border! And a rainstorm. I know I shouldn't be taking photos while driving, but I sure like the view of my hubby pulling our house and all our earthly possessions down, or up, the road.

The rain stopped just short of the Washington border. This view isn't too spectacular, coming into Spokane Valley, but it's good to see the "Welcome to Washington" sign. Almost there!

We left the Freeway near George, passed through Quincy, and are heading down the slope to the Columbia. Now we're really getting close!

These beautiful cliffs with apple orchards at the bottom are just east of Rock Island. Wenatchee, here we come!

I can see Saddle Rock now, as we are coming into East Wenatchee.

To our surprise, there was not a single RV park with available spaces. It was October Fest in Leavenworth. So much for planning ahead! Fortunately, our friend Bob, who had put in a 50 amp hookup for us a few years ago, was happy to let us park by his First Fruits fruit stand and orchard. It's a lovely spot. We stayed there 6 nights.

Most of the apples in the area are harvested already, but not these Braeburns. We picked up a few that had fallen to the ground, but we know better than to pick the ones still on the trees. They were sure pretty to look at.

This pretty redhead, our granddaughter, is one of the reasons we always return to Wenatchee. Natalie spent 3 nights with us, which we loved. We walked down to the Columbia, just behind our parking spot.

And here she is with Grandpa. Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of the rest of the family. Silly me for forgetting my camera on most of our visits. 

To be continued...

Travels from Wenatchee to Bozeman

This might seem a funny display of photos, but on our travels we can't really sight-see except as we're driving. We can't pull that big 5th wheel and truck into just any place! After we left Wenatchee, got diesel and gas at Rock Island and visited with my sister and hubby at a rest stop near Quincy, we were ready for the trip to Bozeman to really begin. This photo is near Ritzville, out in eastern Washington. I can't go through this area without thinking of my blogging and facebook friend, Char, who is also traveling around in a motorhome with her husband. Ritzville is their homebase.

One of the most beautiful places we've workamped is in North Idaho. We could live there! I love the old mining town of Wallace, the site of the last stoplight on I-90. To solve that problem the new part of the freeway was built right over the top of the town. Though we've toured there many times in our little car, there is no way we could take the "house" down into the town. So here is my photo of Wallace for this trip.

I love the sky here — Big Sky Country! This is just across the border of Idaho and Montana, before Missoula. We had come over Lookout Pass and down into this valley. Coming into Montana almost feels like coming home, since we worked two summers at the KOA in Missoula and traveled all around this gorgeous countryside.

Our spot at the Missoula KOA. We love coming here because most of the same folks we worked with are still here. It was a great place to work and is always a fun place to visit! We had company from the time we set up till we went to bed, and then again in the morning as we were getting ready to pull out.

Well, here is a scene without the 5th wheel! We had stopped at a rest stop along the way for lunch and a nap. I am always intrigued by this tall smokestack near Anaconda. I'm not sure if it is still in use, but it is awesome to look at, standing out against the hills.

On we go, heading into Butte. More Big Sky! You can't see it in this photo, but there is a huge, white statue at the top of the mountains. What looks like a tiny white slash just to the left of center is where it stands. Someone said it was a Madonna. Not sure if that's true or not. Butte is a fascinating city to tour. We've done that a couple of times when we camped in an RV park there. The old part of town consists of many red brick buildings, old mansions, strangely painted homes and businesses, and, of course, the huge, deep Berkeley Pit, now filling with water. The hills all around the city bear the marks of years of mining.

"Home" at last, our home for the next 4 months at the Bozeman KOA. I was surprised to see, although the day was hot, that the trees and flowers in Bozeman are behind what we've seen in Washington and western Montana. We get to experience spring all over again!  On our days off we plan to go to Yellowstone, Virginia City, and any other place that interests us. We will love it here!