Holy Smokes

Helena, MT  High 92  Low 61

Remember when I posted those pictures of our spot.

This is that same view on Friday.

And then on Saturday. Do you see any mountains out there?

That is the smoke from all the fires out in Washington. I feel so bad for all those folks out that way who have lost homes.

Jeff and Tina came to town before the smoke got so bad and we had a really great visit with them. Went for pizza and we won’t ever go back to Howard’s again. Since I don’t eat cheese, I had their chicken basket and it was really quite good, but nobody liked their pizza very much. They had plans to do the tour train, tour the capital building, and take the Gates of the Mountains boat ride.

This dude has been tormenting Scooter.

I dare you to come down off that pole.

Clark Rambling this next picture is for you and Gerry. We stopped for a caramel roll and this outfit stopped at the light. So Jim snapped a picture through the window. Big truck, tractor, a motorcycle, snowmobile, trailer and a car. What more could you possibly need.

I am way behind on reading blogs. Have no idea why I keep running out of time. But I’m going to try and catch up maybe this week.

Yesterday was my birthday. We went to garage sales in the morning and Jim got himself a new shirt and a spotting scoop. I got a couple of books. Then he took me to lunch at the Atomic Café. Another one of those – we’ve been there, done that, and won’t go back. He was going to grill me a steak and corn on the cob for dinner but the wind was so bad we had to put it off until lunch today. It was wonderful.

I also want to say welcome to three new followers: John Smith and Shirley Whitelaw. I don’t see any information about a blog for you guys. Follower 200 is rv_4me however you have a restricted blog and I don’t have permission to see it. Welcome to all of you.

If Only It Was That Simple

Helena, MT  High 80 Low 58

For all of you who said just get rid of the couch and put in recliners or a new sofa, I really wish it was that simple. If it was, we would have done that before we left Arizona.

However, that is not the case. I’ve been Goggling suggestions and I found this guys post on one of the RV forums. He states our problem really well.

“My only regret is that I overlooked the really poor back support on the over stuffed Jackknife love seat. The problem is that this trailer has a mid wall slide that does not move the floor. The slide itself is directly under the seat cushion rather than on the floor. We don't need this to be a jackknife, just a seating area and it is really terrible to sit on”.

The cushions sit directly on top of the platform (or box) that contains the slide mechanisms. So that box has to stay. And remember that when I sit on that couch my feet don’t reach the ground. So putting chairs or anything else up there would make it that much higher.

Nobody had any suggestions for him. Jim hasn’t given up trying to come up with some idea but for now we’re doing fine with my feet up on the stool and Jim in his chair.

Bungalow Living

Helena, MT  High 92  Low 54

Nancy asked me a couple of questions and that gives me something to blog about.

Nancy wanted to know if Jim was a fly fisherman. He has done some fly fishing but he much prefers to sit in his boat and troll for fish. Especially now that he is older because fly fishing is much harder on his back.

She also wanted to know what we thought about living in the Bungalow after two months. We love it. It really is the perfect length for us (23’) and with the one slide, we have more than enough room.

However, there are a couple of issues. The major problem is that the couch is so uncomfortable and we both have back aches from sitting on it. The bench seats aren’t any better. I’ve found that if I sit with my feet on my step stool (with a pillow on top) that I have less problems. Still not very comfortable. We ordered Jim a new folding rocking chair. It fits between the couch and the bench seat and works so much better for him. Makes for interesting contortions as we move around in the rig but that can also be a lot of fun.

The other big problem is mine, not Jim’s. I can’t reach anything. I can’t even reach to plug in the toaster if I don’t stand on my stool. I also can’t reach to turn on the fan which is over the bed. My sense of balance is really lousy so I can’t climb up on the bed to reach it.

Other than those issues, we love our Bungalow. The Hensley Hitch is incredible. Can be challenging to hook up if the ground isn’t level, but when you are towing, the camper doesn’t sway at all. Jim thinks that with this hitch, the Bungalow tows better than the fifth wheel.

Last week was my sister’s birthday so we took her and her hubby out to dinner. We let her pick and she picked Mexican. Only problem is, she doesn’t really like Mexican. Took me forever to figure out that she was trying to please her husband. Sometimes I just don’t get their relationship. If it was my birthday, I certainly wouldn’t pick a restaurant just because Jim would like it. It would have to be my favorite. He can pick the one he wants on his birthday.

Anyhow, it was pretty good. Judy ordered tacos with ground beef and no tomatoes. Came out with tomatoes so she sent it back. Second time it came out with no tomatoes but chicken instead of the beef. She didn’t want to “create a scene” so she didn’t send it back. Once again, I would have sent it back. Can you tell that we may be sisters but we have very different personalities.

We’ve have some beautiful sunsets this summer.

Mom, stop with the pictures.

Did you say go hunting?

Had a couple of small bucks trot by the rig this morning and then on our way home from church, wandering down the roadside on one of our busiest streets, was a momma with twins, both of them still with their spots. Didn’t have a camera.

We’re Still Here

Helena, MT  High 90  Low 55

We all rejoiced when the fireworks finished on the 5th of July. Skittlez, especially, was really happy.

We had dinner at my sister’s house on the 4th which is always a good time.

The most exciting thing to happen around here was our friends came to town. Ed and Linda were headed from Glacier to West Yellowstone and made a stop over the week-end here in Helena.

We first met these folks in Quartzsite, AZ in January 2010. We had a great time visiting and catching up on all our adventures.

On the 4th Ed and Jim went fishing. They had such a good time it ended up being a marathon day. They headed out at 5:00 a.m. and didn’t come home until almost 5:00 p.m. Ed got to take some walleye home for dinner and was a really happy fisherman.

We were watching TV Sunday night when all of a sudden, I saw antlers moving past our window. This fine fellow decided to enjoy part of our tree for his dinner. (taken between the blind slats)

I really don’t know how to make one of those neat maps that so many people have on their blogs and I thank everybody who tried to help me with suggestions. This is what I finally came up with.

This is our very tentative plan for our journey to Virginia in September. We are leaving Billings, MT on September 2. We don’t plan on doing a lot of sightseeing along the way but do you have any suggestions for a “do not miss” sight?

We are headed to Virginia to visit with Jim’s family and we want to spend most of our time exploring Virginia – especially the Civil War sites. I haven’t figured out what our route from Virginia to Arizona will be.

Also, if you are anywhere near our stops and want to meet up, we would really enjoy that.

Family Times

Helena, MT  High 76  Low 51

I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to really catch these guys in front of our neighbors house. They also had a doe with them but they were all spread out and on the move.

We’re finally having some beautiful weather this week. No rain and lots of sunshine. In fact, we’re supposed to be in the 90’s by the 4th.

One day last week my sister, Judy, and I drove over to Butte to visit with her granddaughter, Tara, and her first great-grandson, Emmet.

That makes Emmet my great-great nephew. He is sooo cute.

We had a wonderful visit and we’re hoping they can make a trip over to Helena sometime this week.

Jim caught 7 more fish yesterday but none of them were big enough to keep. Our propane regulator valve decided to give up on us so Jim had to replace that. I need to keep him busy when he’s not fishing. New tires on the truck are also on the agenda.

This is going to be a long week for us because of the fireworks. It is legal to shoot off fireworks here in the county until midnight. (We are about a block out of the city limits)  Skittlez just falls apart when they start going off. On goes the Thundershirt and we climb into the bed and make sure her head is covered.

Scooter doesn’t like them either but she wants to attack them. All four of us will really be happy when this week is over.

The sky looked like it was on fire last night at sunset.

Settled

Helena, MT  High 77 Low 48

We arrived at our “spot” in Helena on Father’s Day.

Our view out the front window.

Our view out the back window.

Us

This guy/gal was sitting on top of our pole to welcome us back. Thought he was going to invited us to a fish dinner but he took it back to the nest to share it with his/her family.

Jim was so looking forward to doing a whole lot of fishing. But the rains came down. And boy did they come down. We had rain every day last week and we found out that our skylight over the tub leaks. So as soon as we see sunshine and Jim isn’t out on the lake, he’ll have to get that fixed. So far the toilet is just fine.

We did have one beautiful sunset.

We had sunshine on Monday so Jim headed for the lake at 5:00 a.m. (Why can’t I get him to get up early when I want to get on the road?) Caught a bunch of little walleyes but nothing big enough for him to keep. He’s out there trying again today.

Eight keepers.

 

On Tuesday our son, Todd, and his beautiful bride, Michaela, celebrated their second wedding anniversary. On Sunday they took a drive up Beartooth Highway which is one of the most beautiful drives in the United States.

Since we are settled for the next two months and I won’t be doing much, I may not be posting very often. I’ll be keeping up through all your blogs and if anything exciting happens here, I’ll do a post.

American Computer Museum

Bozeman, MT   High Too Cold – Low Way Too Cold

Jim and I took time for another museum visit after Katie was finished competing. I do get tired of museums but not those that are very unique – like the Mountain Man and now the computer one.

The GPS must have taken us to a previous location but we eventually found it up near the college.

Lots of interesting information starting with writing on tablets and progressing to the smart phone of today.

This museum involved a lot of reading but I took a couple of pictures.

Anybody remember punch cards?

This circuit board has a total memory of 32,768 Bytes.

The first Apple Computer - 1976

They even have Robby the Robot who was a movie star during the mid-1950’s.

Need a Smartphone? 1994 – the first smartphone with address book, calendar, notepad, sketchpad, calculator, fax and e-mail capabilities.

If you like computers, you need to make a stop at this place.