My Parents & Friends Join Us For A Week In Missoula (MT)

This was one of two longer travel back to back days for us. Just around 5 1/2 hours so wasn’t bad. The road from Williston, ND, to Harve, MT, was a highway and very good condition. We had a deer jump out in front of us but thankfully Kevin kept control and the deer got out of the way just in time.  We learned from Autio (footnote 1) that Harve was a wild town back in the days. HA At the Harvest Host (footnote 2), the owner met us outside and said we could park anywhere in the two fields. Some RV friends of ours camped the night with us there. We had a nice dinner and great visit.

I Think Dad Is Afraid What Kevin Is Doing To His Trailer! Jim & Mary’s RV Park, Missoula, MT 08/26

Next stop: Jim & Mary’s RV Park, Missoula, Montana. Kevin and I stayed here back in 2022 on our way to Glacier NP. This place is famous for the gardens and displays. As we finished our set up and the Clam, Mom & Dad pulled in. Got them set up and then we went to Cracker Barrel for a late lunch. Notice the faces on Kevin and Dad when Kevin is “helping” set up their trailer. Back to the campground and some of our friends, Bridget & Richard, arrived for this week with us. (Bridget & Richard camped with us about 4 weeks last year and always have a blast with them.) 

Mom & Dad are right across from us and Bridget & Richard next to them. We had had some mail sent to my parents and then they brought it up. It was almost like Christmas: Missouri Star Quilt Co, wires to fix fridge, Mary Kay, a sweet birthday card to Kevin from Paul and Chris, and more. 

Games in the game room all day. Kevin had a lot of meetings this week. When Kevin was done with work, Bridget joined the 4 of us and we went to Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery for Find A Grave (footnote 3). Bridget and I took turns photographing every other one.

Lunch Time, Jim & Mary’s RV Park, Missoula, MT 08/26

Games in the game room all day. Kevin was able to join us for a picnic lunch on our picnic table; sandwiches, apple chips, etc. After work, the four of us went to Missoula’s Farmers Market. The directions on the website literally said, “Downtown at the north end of Higgins by the red XXXXs. Next to the railroad tracks.” HAHA The big market is on Saturdays but a smaller one of about 12 booths on Tuesdays. It was fabulous! All had fresh veggies and some fruit (peaches), one booth had Sourdough bread, one had candles and the rest were all fresh veggies. I can’t even imagine how great it is on Saturdays. I got several kinds of lettuce, small cucumbers, small colorful potatoes, carrots, and more. 

Big Dipper Ice Cream, Missoula, MT 08/26

Next stop was Big Dippers Ice Cream. It came up on my search when I was looking at things to do. It said sometimes they have black licorice flavor and Dad and I really like that flavor. No black licorice flavor this time but delicious ice cream anyway. 

“Speed Table” For Speed Bump, Missoula, MT 08/26

Games in the game room all day. (Can you see Bridget, Mom, Dad, & myself really like games?!) At 4:30, Kevin, Mom & Dad and I met up with a family friend who lives here. We ate at Texas Roadhouse and had a great visit and catch up. On the way home we say a sign for a speed bump but the words were “speed table.” That is new to us! I need to show that to Terry, blogger friend, who finds interesting signs. 😃  https://radicallyretired.com/

Smokejumper Visitor Center, Missoula, MT 08/26

Games in the game room all day. In the late afternoon all six of us went to Missoula Smokejumper Visitor Center. What a great place! We learned how this is the base for the USA. Each year over 200 apply for the job, 6 are chosen, and only 5 make it through the intense training. There are about 400 smokejumpers. They work the 6 months of fire season in the US and then some go to Australia to work their fire season. Sometimes other countries like Russia. Often other countries come here to help, as well. At closing time we got a free tour. Smokejumpers only go out to small fires. Duh, but we hadn’t thought that through. 

The tour took us outside and over to the smokejumper headquarters building. We saw them sewing up their parachutes, packing them up, etc. Saw the food supplies and boxes ready to go. Learned that Starlink is used for communication.

We saw two planes take off with fire retardant and then a huge one landed. It would take 8 minutes to resupply retardant and 12 minutes to fuel. A really great tour. 

Games After Dinner, Jim & Mary’s RV Park, Missoula, MT 08/26

For dinner Richard made Asian food; we sat out at our picnic table. I added a salad with all the good stuff from the farmers market.

Games in the game room all day. Later we invited Richard and Bridget over to HOWE (footnote 4) as mom and I were making Sourdough Pretzels. They were a lot of fun to make. I didn’t know adding baking soda to boiling water would have an eruption! HA They were fun to make and yummy to eat.

Looking Toward Bitterroot Mtns, Travelers’ Rest SP, Lolo, MT 08/26

We invited Bridget & Richard to go with Mom & Dad and us on Lewis & Clark adventures today. We left the campground at 9:00 a.m. and went about 1/2 hour mostly south to Traveler’s Rest State Park. This is where Corps of Discovery camped and got ready to go over the Bitterroot Mountains. The visitor center offered a lot of great information, including, discovering the actual site of the campground. Read the pictures but I will sum it up to say that with modern technology, experts were able to discover and actually find mercury buried. This is the latrines. Dr Rush had mercury in almost all his medicines. Plus Lewis & Clark knew to have the bathrooms some 300 feet from the camp area. Yes, it was excavated in small sections. This is one of the most precise known places exactly where Corps of Discovery camped. (Other places were along the Missouri River but the river has moved sometimes a long way from years ago.) 

Hum…Cyanide in Chokecherry Pits? Do You Remember Me Eating Them Recently? HA Travelers’ Rest SP, MT 08/26

And then I saw a sign about Chokecherry. What did I learn? The Selis Native American people would pound the berry into small cakes and dried. Why? Because the chokecherry pits are full of cyanide! Cyanide? I am lucky to be alive! No one told us at the Chokecherry Festival in Williston, ND, to spit out the pits. They are so small I swallowed all 4 that I ate. LOL Whew! 😅

Me And My Wonderful, Amazing Mom, Travelers’ Rest SP, Lolo, MT 08/26

Outside dad sat and enjoyed the sunny day. Richard had already done a short walk. But mom, Bridget, and Kevin and I wanted to do some of the trails. Mom took off with Kevin’s walking stick and got way a head of us. Kevin and I were stopping to take pictures with Seaman (our toy dog that is like Lewis’ dog). It was a fun walk, I think about 1/2 mile or so. Mom was a good leader. 

Late Lunch @ Lolo Peak Brewery & Grill, Lolo, MT 08/26

We asked the ranger for his favorite place to eat and he said Lolo Peak Brewery & Grill. The place is a very nice looking building out of logs. We sat on the patio and had yummy food. Kevin tried a huckleberry jam, bacon, and jalapeño burger – sweet, smoky, spicy and good. 

Next we drove up Hwy 12 along the exact canyons that Lewis & Clark went. We stopped at the top at Lolo Pass Visitor Center. This is about 40 minutes past Traveler’s Rest. The ranger said the White House Christmas tree this year is coming from this area and she was so excited. Of course it is top secret where the tree is, exactly, but there was sure a lot of excitement. Good info on Lewis & Clark and also the Nez Perce Indians, Chief Joseph, and the US Army. We got back home around 3:00 p.m. and everyone started packing up for tomorrow. Then more visiting outside in the evening.

Charla & Parents, Jim & Mary’s RV Park, Missoula, MT 08/26

*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!

1. Autio is an iPhone app that tells all sorts of history and stories about places all over the country. It is narrated and with my iPhone on accessibility, it shows captions of the words being said. So thankful.

2. Harvest Host: https://www.harvesthosts.com/ This is a membership service where you can stay at a business usually one night. We like it because you are supporting a local business. Besides the annual membership fee, you spend around $30.00 partaking of the business, whether food, tour, donation, etc.

3. Find A Grave – https://www.findagrave.com/about

4. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country. HOWE has stayed at least one night in all 48 continuous U.S. states.