16 July ‘06
From Wall and the Bad Lands, we headed off to Harden, Montana. Just outside of Harden is the location of Custer’s Last Stand. We arrived late afternoon, and thank God for that…it was hot !!! Leaving the coach in the hot sun, we headed off to see some of the National Park area. The first thing we came across was a lecture being given by one of the Park Rangers. I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth our time to sit in the sun (we happened to find a couple of seats in the shade) to hear what he had to say, but boy did I have to eat my words…he was great !!! We sat there for a good 45 minutes hung on every word he gave us. Afterwards we definitely had a good idea as to what we were looking at, and how the “Last Stand” took place. It pointed out that even back then, the scouting of the “enemy” wasn’t any better than it is today. Custer was too big for his own good, and fell along with his troops without much glory. We stayed the night in Harden. That night we attended an ice cream social at the campground…pretty good stuff. First thing in the morning we headed out for Bozeman. On the way, we stopped at a RV store and service department in Billings, to see if we could get our oil changed. They couldn’t get us in for another week or so, so we headed off to Bozeman. I had always thought Bozeman was a great little town from way back when I traveled here in the 60-70’s… It didn’t disappoint me…it is still a great Montana town. Because of an Airstream group coming into town the next day, we had to pull up and leave, so we headed onto Missoula. 2 days in Missoula, and we headed off to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Unfortunately we had suffered with a head wind almost all the way from South Dakota to Coeur d’Alene, but now we have been entranced into our campground with the weather being absolutely wonderful. We have made a couple of short trips around here over the last few days. Yesterday we went down to St. Maries Idaho for a “car and arts” show. The cars absolutely made my day…they had been either restored or completely built from scratch to absolutely beautiful machines. The Art show was set beside the St Joe River, and we had a good time there as well. Over the last week, Louise and I have had the kayak out in the Coeur d’Alene Lake. We hope to explore Fernan Lake and the Spokane River either today or in the next couple of days. We have really enjoyed our newest toy… Late this afternoon, we are going to the river with Joelle, Amy, Randy (Roo), and Bill and Shirley Molenda. We are taking the kayak, barbeque, and lots of good food to make for a great afternoon….see ya…
Well, that was yesterday… This morning Amy met us at the beach and then followed Louise back to Post Falls and back for a round trip. We planned our days kayaking yesterday and that was to paddle down the Spokane River from Coeur d’Alene to the city park in Post Falls. It was great to have a car there for the finish of our days paddle. The weather was absolutely beautiful…sunny in the middle 80’s + and a nice cooling breeze. Besides, the water temp couldn’t have been better for a “cooling off”. It took us just over 3 hours to cover the 8 miles and we did it without dropping dead at the end.
From Wall and the Bad Lands, we headed off to Harden, Montana. Just outside of Harden is the location of Custer’s Last Stand. We arrived late afternoon, and thank God for that…it was hot !!! Leaving the coach in the hot sun, we headed off to see some of the National Park area. The first thing we came across was a lecture being given by one of the Park Rangers. I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth our time to sit in the sun (we happened to find a couple of seats in the shade) to hear what he had to say, but boy did I have to eat my words…he was great !!! We sat there for a good 45 minutes hung on every word he gave us. Afterwards we definitely had a good idea as to what we were looking at, and how the “Last Stand” took place. It pointed out that even back then, the scouting of the “enemy” wasn’t any better than it is today. Custer was too big for his own good, and fell along with his troops without much glory. We stayed the night in Harden. That night we attended an ice cream social at the campground…pretty good stuff. First thing in the morning we headed out for Bozeman. On the way, we stopped at a RV store and service department in Billings, to see if we could get our oil changed. They couldn’t get us in for another week or so, so we headed off to Bozeman. I had always thought Bozeman was a great little town from way back when I traveled here in the 60-70’s… It didn’t disappoint me…it is still a great Montana town. Because of an Airstream group coming into town the next day, we had to pull up and leave, so we headed onto Missoula. 2 days in Missoula, and we headed off to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Unfortunately we had suffered with a head wind almost all the way from South Dakota to Coeur d’Alene, but now we have been entranced into our campground with the weather being absolutely wonderful. We have made a couple of short trips around here over the last few days. Yesterday we went down to St. Maries Idaho for a “car and arts” show. The cars absolutely made my day…they had been either restored or completely built from scratch to absolutely beautiful machines. The Art show was set beside the St Joe River, and we had a good time there as well. Over the last week, Louise and I have had the kayak out in the Coeur d’Alene Lake. We hope to explore Fernan Lake and the Spokane River either today or in the next couple of days. We have really enjoyed our newest toy… Late this afternoon, we are going to the river with Joelle, Amy, Randy (Roo), and Bill and Shirley Molenda. We are taking the kayak, barbeque, and lots of good food to make for a great afternoon….see ya…
Well, that was yesterday… This morning Amy met us at the beach and then followed Louise back to Post Falls and back for a round trip. We planned our days kayaking yesterday and that was to paddle down the Spokane River from Coeur d’Alene to the city park in Post Falls. It was great to have a car there for the finish of our days paddle. The weather was absolutely beautiful…sunny in the middle 80’s + and a nice cooling breeze. Besides, the water temp couldn’t have been better for a “cooling off”. It took us just over 3 hours to cover the 8 miles and we did it without dropping dead at the end.