Saturday, Sunday & Monday May 26-28, 2018 Opening WEEK-END!

Well Saturday morning started out with rain - so it was a slow morning.  There weren't too many boats in the parking lot and few fishermen. The game ranger (Justin) came by and introduced himself to us while we were walking our dogs. He wants to make friends with the dogs - but they hate everyone.  He finally gave up and checked some fishing licenses. He told us to contact him if we need  him, he just lives a few miles away.  We cleaned the outdoor toilet and did some weed-eating!

Sunday was WILD! There were lots of boats, fishermen & fisherwomen. There was skiing, paddle boarding, kayaking, wave riding and I don't know what else!  Plenty of people.  We did our weed-eating, trash pickup and checked the bathroom.  Then we went to town, Bigfork and checked the fishing access bathroom there. They were having their whitewater festival - so that place was busy also!  We came back to the RV and took it easy for awhile. Then we went on a drive to Jewel Basin. We started kind of late - and didn't go all the way to the hiking trail. The road is a forest road - so bumpy, curvy and narrow.  We are so glad we have our 4 WD pickup.  We saw a nice little stream with a waterfall and a rolling river  (creek?).  Anyway - it calls for more exploration!

Yellow VW Bug with Kayak

Stream with waterfall

Forest Hiking Trail Sign

Full Moon over parking lot

Parking lot at 10 PM Sunday night 

Monday was also Wild. The parking lot was full.  One person told us it was the busiest he has ever seen it here! OK! We did weedeating and bathroom duty. I talked to Marsha & Pam (my sisters).  We drove to Ferndale and got gas and then walked the dogs on the Swan River Trail. It was very nice and we only saw 2 other couples walking.  Next, we took a drive to Swan Lake, which is south of us on highway 83.  We checked out the forest campgrounds there. They are really nice - blacktop pads, fire rings, and picnic tables. They don't have hook-ups - so it is a primitive campground and there was no AT & T Signal there. Still a really lovely campground. It also had a forest boat access. The water in lakes, streams, and rivers here it just wonderful! We came back to the RV and took a nap. Then we sat outside and watched the activities!

Swan Mountains

Swan River

Swan River - beside the Swan River Trail

Swan lake

Echo Lake Activities

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Thursday and Friday - May 24 & 25

 Thursday
Today we did our laundry in Bigfork. They have a nice laudromat. The prices were good and the machines worked great. It started raining while we were doing laundry and it really didn't let up much. Next door to the laundry - there was a Mexican restaurant - so we had a nice lunch there!  We really liked their food and will eat there again.
When we got back to the RV - we put up some decorations for Memorial Day.  Gary & Shawn (other FWP employees) brought us a weedeater and lawnmower.  We will probably only use the Weedeater because it is difficult to mow rocks! Tonight we had a campfire and walked by the lake.

Our RV site

Echo Lake Looking North

Sun reflecting on cloud

Friday
We did some weed eating. Steve does most of it - but I give him a few breaks. We wanted to clear the path to the lifejackets and the latrine before the big week-end starts. We drove to Bigfork to check on the bathroom there - we supplied it with toilet paper and checked for cleanliness. Our Supervisor brought us some more T-shirts and brochures. He also brought us bear spray!
Then I went in the hardware store and got us an additional mat to wipe our feet.  I also got a few items at the grocery store.  When we got back to the RV we had a note with a phone number - name was Monique. I was going to ignore it - but Steve thought I should call and see what the deal was. So I called the number and found out she is just south of us on the lake. Evidently there are lots owned by the Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (DNRC) that people can lease for the summer or maybe eventually buy. Then they park their RV on it or build a cabin.  Cool. Anyway Monique wanted to come over and meet us - because "it's good to know your neighbors." So we visited awhile and met 2 of her 4 kids. Later we took a nap. Then we had a fire, hotdogs and s'mores.  After that we drove to Strawberry Lake Road and followed it to Krause Basin Interpretive Trail. We took a little walk with the dogs and then went back to the RV.  We saw 1 deer on our way.  It doesn't get dark until about 9:30 or 9:45!

Large mat Kristi got us last Christmas.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018 Getting in the Groove

Today we did our duties - cleaned the latrine and re-checked it later. We put all the hose on the hose reel, so we can reach the bathroom with the hose to wash it down. We watched the lake.  There was light rain this evening - so we did not have a fire.

Echo Lake - Panorama

Fire Pit

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Training

Today we were just getting in the groove in the morning. About 10 AM - our Supervisor from FWP, Tony Powell, came out and reviewed what we need to do as camphosts here. He brought us some literature that we can hand out and some FWP T-shirts to wear.  Next, we followed him into Bigfork to see the Fishing Access site there. We will be checking it about twice a week - making sure it has toilet paper and looks clean and neat.
Steve worked on straightening up the shed. Things were in disarray in there. He made it nice, neat and organized.  There is a lifejacket loaner program here  and we checked all the life jackets to make sure the are OK and Coast Guard approved Class III. Then we hung them up.  Steve also helped a lady back her boat trailer up so they could load and get out. I talked to some ladies that come out every week to paddle their Kayaks!  Everybody we have met so far seems very friendly!

Mountains

Echo Lake

Monday, May 21, 2018 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Today we left Wayfayer State Park in Bigfork, MT and headed up to Kalispell. Our first stop was the FWP office. They are who we report to for our volunteer job. The first item on the agenda is to get fingerprinted. That requires filling out 2 fingerprint cards (correctly) and then getting the fingerprints. Hopefully, we pass! We parked the RV in a big lot about 1/2 a block away and went in to their office. They have lots of neat wildlife mounts that we admired.  Next on the agenda - we went to Pierce RV to get the new surge protecter and the new end for our electric cord.  We also went to Walmart for supplies. You can't forget that.
We set our GPS to the Echo Lake coordinates, but since we were coming from the north it took us on a back road when we were almost there.  It was very dusty! Sometimes you just don't know what the GPS has going in it's mind! LOL!  We set up the RV. We are on a mountain and so we have to level carefully. We had to prepare the filter for the water (well water) and then we also hooked up the sewer hose. Fun stuff!

Here are the mountains we saw on our way to Kalispell!

Sunday, May 20, 2018 Driving to Echo Lake

Today we left Butte, Montana and headed to our final destination for the summer, Echo Lake.  We got  around pretty good and filled up with gas before getting on the interstate.

This drive was beautiful. We were on I-90 for about thirty miles, then just after Deer Lodge we joined US 12 to Avon  .

Then we drove on MT 141 to where it meets with MT 200. Then we went west on 200 until we met up with MT 83.

We did stop at a rest stop before joining 83. It was refreshing to get out and walk the dogs and have a bite to eat. Highway 83 goes north by Seeley Lake and Swan Lake.

This is a very popular tourist destination. We enjoyed the drive so much.

We set our GPS using latitude and longitude - plus I had written directions to compare with. We drove right to the spot and the road was packed with pickups and boat trailers. There was even a boat trailer and pickup in the site we were supposed to occupy.

So we drove into Bigfork and went to Wayfayer State Park.  They were very full but thought we could get into the handicap spot - since Steve is a disabled vet. We were lucky - the campground was packed!  Also the handicap spot had electricity - great. The camphosts were very nice and checked on us. It was $28 to stay the night here. All Montana State Parks are basically primitive - no electricity, no full hook-ups.
We plugged the RV into the power pedestal - but it would not work! We thought it was our power pole - we told the camphosts. They said they would report it. Steve investigated it more and found out the plug on our RV needed replaced - the wiring was corroded. This has been our only trouble on this trip!  We were really happy that we had a surge protector.

This will be taken care of Monday.  Anyway we plugged a fan into the power pole and slept like babies!

Moving On - May 17 through May 19, 2018

We left Buffalo Wyoming this morning and headed north on I 25 headed to Billings, Montana.  This was the view leaving Buffalo.
This mountain range is beautiful!

Next is Sheridan , Wyoming

These are some shots around Parkman, Wyoming

These are  at Decker, MT

We stopped at Billings, Montana for the night. First we bought supplies at Walmart - then went to Yellowstone River Campground. Yikes - It cost $50/night to stay here!  I though KOA was high but this was expensive also!  Billings, Montana must be very popular.  We couldn't get TV because of the trees. We didn't mind though because we were tired. We walked our dogs and chilled out for the evening. When we got up the next morning it was raining pretty good. We waited until about 10:15 AM to get the dogs out and unhook our utilities. Check out time was 11:00 AM and we made it out with a few minutes to spare.  We headed west on Friday the 18th!

 Columbus, Montana

Livingston, Montana

Bozeman Montana

We got to Butte, Montana and stayed at KOA. We set up everything and then guess what!  We could not get anything on the satellite dish. So we called the office and they said we could move. So we put in the slides and raised the jacks. We unplugged the electric and disconnected the water and sewer.  We moved over two sites and check out the dish - we had TV yea! Then we hooked up everything and set up the jacks and slides over again.  All set. It is also $50 per night here! We may stay two nights - in order to rest up a bit. It rained again and so we did stay on the 19th also - We just took it easy and walked the dogs some.  One night we ate chicken that is prepared right on sight. It reminds me of broasted chicken.  It was good! We walked on a nice path right by the RV park and saw some baby geese - what fun!
This path is nice for walkers and bikers (non-motorized).