From Red Lodge to Deer Lodge

It is hard to see but this is a picture of the moon over our KOA last night.  It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful day.   Another cool night to sleep.  Up by 6:30.  Ate breakfast, packed up, hooked up the car, and on the road by 8:00 a.m.   We couldn't tell if it was overcast or the sun was just covered by smoke.  Either way, didn't need sunglasses today.

Pulled out of the campground and Carol discovered that none of the gauges on the dash were not working.  Thankfully, there was a rest area just 10 miles down the road so we pulled into the rest area and Carol found a fuse that wasn't in firm.  As soon as he pushed it in, the gauges popped into action.  There is always something to discover when you own a motorhome.

We continued west on I-90.  There were some big mountains the motorhome had to climb and it made it.  I wondered sometimes if I would have to get out and push but it just kept chugging along.  The scenery was very pretty as I think the pictures posted will show.  We pulled into a town named Cardwell for gas.  As we passed by the gas station on the interstate, we could see that the outside pump was empty and a great place for us to pull in for gas.  However, when we got back to the station a truck with a trailer attached had beat us to the pump.  Since we needed gas, we waited, and waited, and waited.  We could not believe how totally in their own world the couple were in the truck and trailer.  They had finished getting gas but she was inside the mini-mart shopping.  He got the dog out and walked it while she shopped.  When she was finished, she opened up the trailer and put the food away.   Then, finally, they got into the truck and pulled out.   This station had a big drive around area so it wasn't that they had to stay other than at the pump.  Anyway, we finally got pulled into the pump for gas.  Gas was $2.70 a gallon which is the highest we have paid.

We are camped at Deer Lodge KOA.  It is only 275 miles from Red Lodge to Deer Lodge.  This is a great campground.  We have a large pull-through site.  The site on the right side of the motorhome is no longer a site so the owner said we could consider it our living room.  It is like we have two sites.  It is run by a single woman who is so nice.  She loves dogs and told us Sandy could run free in the campground.  We won't do that because we don't let Sandy run free at home.  She keeps dog treats on the front counter for her furry guests.

Deer Lodge is a small town of only 3,000 people.  The campground is only a couple of blocks from the main street.  We could walk to the Montana State Prison if we wanted to.  The temperatures are cool and there is a wind blowing so we won't need the air conditioner.  The campground sits on the banks of  Clark's Fork River.  Some of the campsites are on the river.  It will be nice to not drive 100-200 miles a day in the car.  Everything we plan to see here is close.  We  plan to relax.

One final note.  Today is our 51st wedding anniversary.  We were going to eat supper in a nice restaurant but the one nice one wasn't open today (Labor Day??) so we ate at Pizza Hut.  Still, it was supper out.   It is hard to believe that we have been married 51 years.  Where have those years gone?  We have seen so many things and been so many places;  and, we have plans to keep on seeing and going.  This is day 13 of a 39 day trip.