In late July, our good friends Ken and Muriel visited us, along with our cycling buddy Paul. Ken and Paul were meeting up to travel to Oregon, where Ken was crewing for Paul in the Race Across Oregon. Muriel stayed for the week while the guys were gone, and we had a great time showing her the area, and getting in some cycling.
Relaxing at the campground in Spearfish
As far as the RAO race results, Paul finished third (behind two youngsters) at an outstanding 42 hours 36 minutes -- that's for 527 miles and 40,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain! Way to go, Paul!
We finished up our volunteer assignment at the D. C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish at the end of July. We had plenty of time to get things all squared away, and took off for Montana on August 1, for our month of visiting and sightseeing.
We spent the first couple of days at my cousin Jimmy's ranch in Clyde Park, Montana, just north of Livingston, where my Dad's family is from. We had a great time with Jimmy and Joyce, and enjoyed their great hospitality. We also had a chance to get together with another cousin, John, who lives in Livingston, as well as just wandering around and seeing the sights.
Jimmy getting ready to head out to his hay fields
Our Phaeton at the Sarrazin Ranch campground
We'd made arrangements to take the motorhome in for service at the Freightliner dealer in Bozeman, which sounded like a good idea at the time, but the overall experience was not so good. Even though they are listed as a Freightliner Oasis dealership (meaning one who is specially equipped and trained to service motorhomes on Freightliner's chassis), they really aren't in that league, and their service prices and attitudes are outrageous. I've written a complaint letter to Freightliner, and all of you with motorhomes are warned in advance about these hoodlums!
We then wandered further west and north, doing some sightseeing in Helena and Butte, both of which were on our schedule. I had fun roaming around Carroll College in Helena, as I'd spent my freshman and half of my sophomore year there (long ago) and, of course, things had changed.
We also spent time in Butte, visiting Fr. Tom Haffey, who was a good friend of my uncle, Fr. Tom Fenlon, as well as seeing all the sights there -- including my Grandparent's house on Granite St., and many of the mining areas and museums. We also made a trip to the cemetery, to revisit the headstones of my Mom's family.
At lunch with Father Tom Haffey, Pastor of St. Anne's Parish in Butte, Mt.
One of the highlights of our Montana stay was meeting and visiting with Judith, Mandy's cousin who she had never met, but had been corresponding with on the Internet for the past several years. We all got together to take the boat trip through the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri River, and to see nearby Mann Gulch (which was one of my "bucket list" items), where 13 Forest Service Smokejumpers perished in 1949 (see Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire). Afterward we drove up to Wolf Creek where Judith gave us a tour of her ranch -- which she has recently designated as part of a Conservation Easement -- what a day!
Mandy and Judith near Gates of the Mountains
Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri River
Mann Gulch, where the Smokejumpers died
We made it back to Bozeman by Saturday to participate in my cousin Brenda's 50th birthday party. On Sunday we got with them for a bike ride, some lunch, and a longer visit.
We also visited Mark's dad, my Uncle Bob, who is my Dad's last surviving sibling -- he is in a nursing home facility, and we're not sure if he recognized us, but it was great to see him.
After seeing Jimmy and Joyce for one last time (and also getting a chance to visit with his brother Leon and his wife Jean), we leisurely took off heading south toward Texas on the 17th. We got as far as Ft. Laramie, Wyoming when our plans took a bit of an unanticipated turn. . . . . .
We'd discovered a couple of motorhome items which needed work (specifically a slide seal issue), but we hadn't planned on going to the Tiffin Service facility in Red Bay, Alabama this fall -- nonetheless, since we had a couple of weeks, we discussed it and decided to high-tail it to Texas -- via Red Bay (it only added about 900 miles). We got up early Thursday and put the pedal to the metal, and headed toward the southeast. After seeing more of Nebraska and Missouri than I ever want to experience again, we made it to Red Bay on Saturday afternoon -- it's early in the season so we should be able to get into an "express service bay" to get the repairs done during this coming week. We might be a day or two late getting to our Texas volunteer assignment, but I think we've got some leeway there -- I guess we'll find out.
Anyway, all is well, except for the intense Alabama August heat and humidity -- but then that's just getting us in shape for September and October in central Texas, right?? Stay tuned to this blog -- and our Facebook pages -- and we'll keep you updated on our progress (or lack of it) as we journey west through Texas and back to Yuma for the winter.
