The Real Great Falls

Hoorah. Today it didn't rain. It was cloudy and cold, but we were able to get out and see something. Eloise's comment as we were driving out of town, was "it's great to be getting out of the house...even if we're still in it!" We had gone for a walk again on Monday, went to the Dining Hall for brunch. It was really a nice meal and still one of the benefits of being Military. Our combined bill was under $5. The facility was very nice, big screen TV as well as a very comfortable dining room. We also visited the gym on our way back to the camper. They are building a new facility that looks like a great place. Personally, I thought the old one wasn't too bad.

I was stationed here for a whole year in 1965/6 and never knew there was a 'real' Great Falls. Of course we drove by the Black Eagle falls all the time, and I assumed that was what the town was named after. Not so. If you drive across the Missouri on hwy 87 by-pass up to the Ryan Dam turn off and go several miles to the dam, you can see the falls in our picture here. Lewis and Clark mapped the area on their famous trip. Sacajawea had been ill for a while, and Clark decided to give her some of the water from the sulphur spring that was about 4 miles downstream from the falls. She recovered, and speculation is that the water had a hydration effect on her.

After the outing, we stopped at the laundromat. The first time we've used one since about 1996! Oy, the prices!

Tomorrow we stop at the base commissary and gas station and head across the border into Canada!!!

The bad news is that we won't have cell phone the while we're in Canada. Could be for as much as a month. We'll try to get to a library or ? to do more blog updates and get e-mail. If you leave a message on our phone, it could be until we get into Alaska before we can get it. If you want to reach us it would be best to email.

Governor's reception room

The final picture is the Governor's reception area. The flags represent all the tribes of MT. It is also decorated with Indian blankets.

We are now in Great Falls. Some of you may know that Gary was once stationed here at Malmstrom AFB. He volunteered to go to SE Asia during the Vietnam conflict just to get out of here. I am starting to understand why. When we arrived it was raining. It had been 90 degrees a week ago but the high today is supposed to be about 45 degrees. He used to laugh when I'd ask about summer. He said summer was on a Wednesday when he was here. For a California boy it was quite a change. The rain has finally stopped for the moment and I can see a little patch of blue. They say it won't start to warm up before about Sunday. We have a full hookup spot here in the "Fam Camp" and will be doing some stocking up from the Commissary, do some laundry and right now Gary is giving himself a haircut. When the weather clears some we will be heading on to the Canada border. Needless to say we probably won't be posting again for a while. We don't expect to have access while in Canada but will get back to it ASAP.
Hope you all have a nice weekend, I don't think we will have the usual Memorial Day outdoor barbeque.
Eloise & Gary

more from the Capitol

The first one is a huge painting at the front of the House of Representative hall. It is a Charles M Russell painting called "Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole. The second picture is a close up of the area on the right. It shows Lewis & Clark waiting while translations are made. It portrays Lewis & Clark Expedition when they met the Salish Indians in the Sula Basin area in southwestern Montana. They were looking for a northern pass by which they could cross the mountains. It was intended to be from the Indian's prospective therefore L & C are really minor players in the picture.

The painting was commissioned in 1911 when the wings of the Capitol were under construction. The canvas is 25' by 12' and was painted in his log cabin sudio in Great Falls. It was so large that the roof of his studion had to be raised to accommodate the mural. Extensive consrvation work was done in the 1960s and 70s to protect, preserve and repair the mural. Originally the painting was mounted on an outside wall that subjected it to extremes changes in climate. A wall was added to the outside of the building to minimize the problems.

I wish my granddaughter Jessica could have been with us here. She is an art major in college and could have really enjoyed seeing this fabulous painting as I think you all would have.

Day 11 - My Turn by E

We haven't had a lot of excitement the last couple of days. We visited Helena, wanted to see the capitol. I'm going to include several pictures, all of which are from the capitol. This is a front view. We didn't spend a lot of time shooting outside shots, it was raining.

Later Than Day 6

We tried to find information about parking a MH in Salt Lake City, but nobody had any advice for us. We sorta wound our way up to the Capitol parking lot, and backed into a level area where we mostly fit and were definitely out of the way. The Utah capitol was just re-opened this January having gone thru a 4 year makeover. It was a beautiful sight. The House was just on our walk from the Capitol to the LDS Temple Square, which was just a few blocks down the hill. It is twice as far going back up the hill.

We got to the Tabernacle just in time to hear the daily organ recital. In the full size picture you can make out the man who was playing, and see the proportion of the pipes...over 11,000 of them!! He played some classical numbers, Bach and ?, and also some lighter stuff. Hey Edie, guess what he played??? Yep, Shenandoah. Not our barbershop version of course, but sounded terrific!

Between numbers he demonstrated the acoustics of the hall. He dropped three pins onto a table, and they sounded pretty loud. He dropped a nail, and it was louder. Then he turned around and spoke to us without a mike, and you could hear him equally well whether he faced us or not. Pretty remarkable for such a huge hall! The organ was originally constructed in the 1860's, and rebuilt and enlarged through the years. Its 206 ranks, totaling 11,623 pipes are in eight divisions and played from a 5 manual console.

The LDS church owns 35 acres in and around Temple Square. The newest building is really impressive. It's the Conference Center featuring a 21,000 seat auditorium and also a 900 seat theater. Attendees can hear their own language much like the United Nations can. However, we were told that the LDS attendees can hear any of about 120 different languages, while the UN is limited to eight! The most striking thing about the center to me was that there were no posts in any part of the huge auditorium, not even under the 2 balconies. They use a cantilever design to accomplish that feat, and the result is just amazing. Imagine sitting in the back and not having to look around pillars! We were given a 'one-on-one' tour, and taken up to the roof for a look over the city. The roof had been planned as a pleasant patio with trees, shrubs and waterfalls. However, both 9-11 and the injury of a small boy who fell over a rail, have led to the closing of the roof except during guided tours. Pity, it was a really nice area. Fortunately the boy didn't fall all the way to the ground, he fell onto another deck area just one floor down. He was injured but survived.

The remaining photo is of the 1st LDS church in SLC, constructed of 'reject' stone from the temple. The temple stone was moved by ox cart from the mountains, taking up to 4 days to bring down just one stone.

When we got back up the hill to the capitol, we looked in the parking lot for signs that said no overnight parking...there weren't any, so we decided just to stay there for the night. It was really quiet, peaceful and we felt safe. Next morning a policewoman asked when we were leaving, and we told her we wanted to get a short walk in before pushing on if that would be okay. She said sure and hoped we had a good time in SLC. (She did say that a couple of workers in the capitol had asked about us, and seemed concerned.)

Today we came through some pretty high passes, upward of 7,000 ft. At about that height we ran into some snow but it didn't last long. You could see that there was some fresh snow up higher but we have lucked out so far. The wind however, remained with us most of the day.

The storm was moving in last evening while we were in Idaho Falls. The temperature while in Salt Lake was in the 90s, record highs for this time of year. While we were in Idaho Falls the storm moved in, winds came up and the temperature dropped. The temperature in the MH when we awoke was 52. We had a quiet evening in a Lowe's parking lot except the wind rocked us like a boat on a rough sea.

We have now reached Helena, MT. We're staying in a 'real' RV park because we mis-managed our coach battery. A $28 a night mistake!

Note: Just noticed that when I posted this one of the pictures was cut off in the blogg. If you are interested in seeing any of the pictures, including the one that was cut off, just click on the picture and it shows an enlarged form. Then if you want to return, just click the back arrow.

Later...

Day Six Awfully Awesome Alaskan Approach - UTAH

We went for a 2-hour hike this morning up into the hills behind the RV park. Since we are at 6000 feet, getting our wind was the problem. There were beautiful new log cabins going in on really steep hills. The one pictured was pretty large, had 5 acres, and was advertised for $93,900. Looks like a heavy snow fall this winter was a little too much for this roof. Maybe more slant would have helped. And final picture shows what to do with those extra flower pots you may have around the house. Cute, eh?

Almost a week into our journey, and some things become evident. I evidently forgot to appreciate the automatic-ness, and spaciousness in our "real" coach. If any of you remember back to the 70's, direct spark ignition(DSI) for an RV appliance was Flash Gordon fantasy! First you go outside in the cold, windy morning, open the door by removing the wing nut and washer (and in my case remove the awning post that is thoughtfully placed right in front of its door), hold the pilot knob down while simultaneously lighting a match (I use a long-nosed lighter) and trying to put it in the correct spot to light the pilot. You can do it only after several tries. Then the immense satisfaction of hearing the roar when you turn the dial to on. Then the immense depression when you find everything was blown out seconds after it came on. Next time is better, faster and usually 'takes'. We're fortunate that our refrigerator was upgraded in the 90's, so it does have the DSI, and auto switching from AC to LP. It was a model, however, that didn't have a light inside, so Eloise sometimes has to shine a flashlight into it to find something. The furnace needs the pilot light lit also, but you can do that from inside, thank heaven, and it has a 'sparker' built in, sort of like BBQs. One advantage of our small interior is that it doesn't take the furnace long to make it too hot to stand. The bathroom is pretty small. When I am on the commode my knees hit the door. Eloise tells me to just open the door, but I was brought up to be modest. Some things are simply too private to share! Lastly, our beds are 22' apart, but at least I'm on top! (Over the cab).

I'm not complaining mind you, only explaining. It's fun to drive such a small rig after wheeling around those big ones. I can ALMOST park it in one parking slot. It'll be even more fun when we can get to a body shop to see if they can stop the engine fumes/heat from coming in around the 'dog house'!

All the troubles aside, we're happy campers and looking forward to touring around Salt Lake City tomorrow. One of our 'things' is trekking through state capitols. Should prove a fun day.

Tucked into Skyline Mt Resort

Tonight we are tucked in at Skyline Mountain Resort, Mt Pleasant, UT. I think it is going to get pretty cold. They said it had been freezing until the last couple of days. It is a Coast-to-Coast park and we have full hookups so Gary shouldn't have to wear his socks to bed tonight. We decided to hang around for two nights, get caught up on the blog as well as just enjoy walking some. We are looking forward to Salt Lake City. We want to see the Morman Temple and the Capital building but decided to wait until after the weekend. The little rig seems to be holding up well. The next time we get to a WalMart we will be buying an extra blanket. Stay warm. E & G

It got very cold that night so the next morning we were on the road by 5:30 a.m. An almost unheard of thing for us. This is a picture of the Vermilion Cliffs. The sun was just getting up far enough to shine on them. It is really a shame that you can't capture the real beauty of them.

This is Echo Cliffs (I think). It was just beyond the turnoff to Page. We found a nice quiet spot to spend the night.

Painted Desert

North of Flagstaff

Hi again,
Sometimes it will be several days between postings, we don't always have a signal and/or electricity. When we left Cottonwood, AZ on Thursday we knew that Flagstaff had gotten quite a lot of snow just a couple of days earlier. We hoped that we wouldn't run into any problems from it. The first picture today is where we stopped for lunch, just North of Flagstaff. It was definitely a picturesque spot but we were glad we were down below. You can see from the clouds that it was a windy day. We had even noticed on the internet that Flagstaff had posted a picture of a funnel cloud.

Hummers

This is a picture of a hummer on her nest. It's located above the patio of the family lodge of the park we're in. The other picture is of a young hummer that fell (or was blown out) of a nest in another part of the park. He seems pretty happy in his temporary digs, and is being tended by the clerk in the store. She says she gives it vitamins in sugar water every 7-10 minutes in a vial that looks like a blood vial with a special hole for the beak. She said she feeds it all day like that, and that it will sleep all night perched on the top of a lamp shade. It had been pretty dehydrated when it was found.

After we got out of the Phoenix area we began to notice so many of the Saguaro cacti had their blossoms. Stopped along the highway to snap a couple of shots. Later in the year the Indians harvest the fruit and make jams and syrup. Yum.

Here is the 1977 Tioga that's Alaska bound. It looks better when it's dark. We spent two days at the Benson Escapee Co-op in their boondock area before heading out yesterday. Eloise found 2 1/2 pages worth of stuff she felt should be included in our trip...and last night wished we'd packed more blankets!!

We left early (for us) around 7AM. We don't usually get underway until at least 9, but we were trying to get ahead of the strong winds that have been going on for a while in the desert. We shouldn't have bothered, it was windy as soon as we got going.

We filled the gas tank in Benson and again at Eloy, so we could make it into Cottonwood for our 1st night. Eloise computed our MPGs for that short run, and it was about 9.6. Doesn't sound like much to some, but to us, that's much better than the 6.5 we've been used to! Gas at Eloy was $3.44.9.

Until I can figure out how to put pictures down into the blog text, we'll make separate blogs for each different picture subject. If anybody can help me out, please respond!

Maiden Run for the Weekend

I couldn't seem to get the carburetor adjusted, so we took it to this guy over in Pomerene. He didn't get it right either, but we took it back and he claims that the problem was with a filter at the fuel line into the carb which allowed fuel to slowly drain out of the bowl. Charged me 1 and 1/2 hours labor, no parts.

Today we spent moving into the class C, and mounting a Wilson Trucker's Cellular antenna for the cell phone and our Verizon Air Card. Probably need an amp too, but going to wait to see for sure. They're sorta expensive, but effective.

Tomorrow we are taking it for a couple days to "camp out" at a Coast to Coast park over in St David...about 7 miles! That will be enough of a test to make sure everything is okey dokey before heading out for real. Certain that there are things we haven't loaded, maybe we'll think of them when we're marooned in the park. Things are too easy here in Benson!

Our plan is to take our still unsold Tropi-Cal motorhome to a consignment lot here in Benson on Monday. Same day show my brother George around the Allegro Bus. He has graciously agreed to watch over it and do weekly/monthly things. Thanx Bro! Here's a picture of the Allegro for those who haven't been deluged with pictures of it. Eloise took the picture with her brand new camera! It's a Panasonic with 10 optical/8.2 mps. She likes it so far.

I'll upload pictures of the one we're taking to Alaska next week in our "We're outta here" issue.